Girls' Frontline: Expedition into Sector R01
by Veday1945
Summary: One world, destroyed by conflict and chaos. Another world, overrun by creatures of evil. Both worlds connected by a single experiment, and a mission to understand what had happened.
1. The calm before the storm

**A.N.**

**Hey so this was kind of a little project that wanted to work on. I never got the chance to do this in the past so, this would be my first time writing one of these.**

**This started with a couple of scenarios that popped into my head and I wanted to see if I could connect them into a single story. You will see some of these scenarios play out as the story progresses.**

**Now on to something else. I'm not one of those people who starts a story with a connection from the beginning. (Meaning I don't like when a story just merges the worlds from the get go with little to no time introducing the characters.) I like to have a chapter or two before said event to establish characters and lore first. So be aware of that.**

**Also to address some confusion that may occur before we start, the commander in the story is the same one in the manga story, so this commander is not an OC.**

**So without further ado, lets begin.**

**I do not own any of the respective works. Girl's Frontline is a product of Mica Team and RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

Chapter 1

The year is 2062, and the world was in a dire state. In the aftermath of a major collapse fluid and the onset of World War III, there are only small patches of land globally that can still support human civilization. With much of the world's militaries in shambles, the protection of what remains of humanity falls to private military companies. Two of the largest of these PMCs, Griffin and Kryuger PMC and Sangvis Ferri, have taken up the mantle of this responsibility. However do to a savior lack of human resources, both companies employ a military form of service robot called Tactical Dolls. These T-Dolls, as they are more commonly known, are used with great effect to deploy quickly into hostile areas and take down threats that would normally go unchallenged. The two companies became rivals as they flood the market with their own variants of T-Dolls. While Griffin worked on improving the Dolls fighting capabilities, leading to the current 2nd generation models, Sangvis Ferri worked on advanced AI systems to improve the dolls' mental capacities and target acquisition. Unfortunately after an attack on their main compound by an unknown force a rogue AI took control of the main facilities and began to execute all human personnel as well as settlements in the nearby area. As a result Griffin was tasked with containing the threat that these units pose to the rest of civilization.

Due to this new workload that has been put on them Griffin looked to expand their line of commanders in the sector. One of these new commanders was a young woman named Gentiane. She was hired to take control over several operations with Sector S09 as it was known, to push back against the relentless attacks conducted by these rogue units. Quickly the commander conducted several attacks and incursions in the area called The Liberation of Sector 9, and had achieved many victories with the destruction of several Sangvis Ferri ringleader commander units. When Griffin's main tactical base was under attack, she led the defense as well as conducted a counter attack to eliminate the local ringleader overseeing the attack. Though this was a major success, this victory came at a great cost to Griffin who now have to delay much of their plans until they can replenish their forces. However they believe that Sangvis Ferri has exhausted their offensive capabilities for the moment, and hope to use this time as a breather.

Little do they know that as they lick their wounds, other plans are being set in motion.

* * *

15:37 Local time, Griffin's sector S05 base

With everything that has happened in the last three weeks, Commander Gentiane is just happy that she can finally get some sleep. Between the Liberation of Sector 9, the attack on Griffin's main base, and the tracking down of AR-15 who went rogue shortly after the attack, she is expecting a hell of a lot of overtime pay. That being said she doesn't want to think about any of that. Right now all she wants to do is sleep. Though there was still one thought that bugged her.

Anti-Rain

She knows they're just T-Dolls, synthetic robots designed for combat in all conditions, sent to fight and die for humanity. Still finding out one of your teammates betrayed you and got themselves killed before you could ask why, not many can come out of that mentally sound. I guess that's why they're locked up in the detention center nearby, make sure that they are okay. Plus the transfer to the new base did take a lot out of her. But at least now she can get some much needed sleep.

*Knock Knock* "Master."

Or at least she would be given that illusion. The door to her room begins to open. "Master, your presence is requested down in the command room." an o too familiar voice said.

"Just five more minutes, okay." The command said groggily as she covered her face with the blanket.

The next thing she knew the blankets covering her were yanked away. All the commander could do is attempt to cover her head with a pillow. "I told you five more minutes. What part of that did you not understand?"

"My apologies, but I was sent to inform you that you are needed in the command room."

Commander Gentiane took her head out from under her pillow and looked up at the T-Doll standing beside her bed. Each doll seemed to have it's own style of dress code depending on the personalities that were loaded on to them. This particular doll has a long blonde tied in a single braid and seems to dress in one of those maid's outfits. "G36, I thought I told you that I didn't want to be disrupted unless something needed my attention."

"There is a matter that needs to be addressed…" G36 started before being interrupted.

"All the matters that I have dealt with for the past week have all been patrols and writing reports for those patrols. So unless the world is going to blow up in the next few days, all I want to do is get some much needed rest." The commander put her head into her pillow while saying this.

"About that last statement…" The T-Doll started.

"Please don't tell me I was right."

"Well given the fact that this meeting is with Ms. Helian and she has stated before I left to get you that this matter can not wait until tomorrow, it's safe to assume such an outcome. Though I do not know for certain."

"Why is it always me?" The commander softly asked herself. "Alright, tell Helian I'll be there in a few minutes. I just need some time to get ready."

"Understood, I'll inform her immediately." G36 stated. She turns towards the door and leaves.

The commander sighed "Well there goes my night." She got up and began to get her uniform on.

* * *

Commander Gentiane made her way into the command room. The room was outfitted with the latest tech that Griffin had at its disposal. To the left and right are displays of all kinds reading out the status of currently deployed echelon teams. On the far wall there was a large television screen for secured communication with Griffin command as well as other bases within the sector. On that screen there was an indication that there was an incoming call from command.

"Put her through," said the commander.

On the screen, a woman wearing a Griffin officer's uniform appeared. She had graying hair fashioned a single loose ponytail. Looking up from her tablet she begins to speak.

"Good evening Commander Gentiane. I hope that I'm not intruding on anything personal with this surprise meeting." Helian said.

"No it's fine, I just wanted a little rest before tomorrow's set of patrols." responded Gentiane.

"Yes, your reports over the last week have been most informal about Sangvis' movements. You have seemed to fit right in to your new position, I hope such trivial matters aren't boring you, given your outstanding performance the last few weeks."

"No no, everything is fine. I'm happy to be able to get some easy work in for the foreseeable future." The commander said nervously.

"Well that being said there is a matter I wish to discuss. If you could turn your attention to the situation table."

Most of the lights in the room turned off except for a few in the center of the room. A series of lights began to project a map of what looks to be a collection of hills. The commander immediately recognized this area as Sector S05.

"The data from the patrols you and your fellow commanders in the area have sent back over the last week have allowed us to see what Sangvis has been up to recently." Helian started. "From what we are able to see, they have begun to send large amounts of materials to this sector."

The holomap began to show several lines coming from outside the sector going through valleys and passes to a center point. "We have been able to track down where these supplies are being sent to." The map zooms in on the center point, showing what looks to be a large complex of buildings out in the middle of nowhere.

"What am I looking at?" asked the commander.

"The complex that you are seeing is an old Sangvis Ferri research facility from before the Butterfly Incident. The nature of the research conducted there is unknown, however records that we were able to recover shows us that whatever research was conducted there was of little importance to them." Helian explained.

"So after all of this work we have found out that their forces are using an old backwater research facility in the middle of nowhere as a command post. Or are you saying that they're using it as a storage depot just because they can? This is hardly the kind of information that would require immediate attention don't you think?" the commander asked.

"Well that would be the case if it wasn't for a recent development." Helian stated. She began to type something onto her tablet. Then the map switched to a new visual, one where the facility is lit up significantly as well as at least five different lines jetting out from it.

"What's this?"

"This is a map of the current levels of power being consumed by the facility. The lines you see jetting off from the complex of external power links. These links appear to be siphoning off power from nearby plants and settlements." She stated.

The commander looked at the display for a few moments before speaking. "If that statement is true then there must be a significant force there on standby."

"That's our thoughts too, however the amount of energy consumed by this facility doesn't match the number of units we believe to be stationed there."

This fact brought a chill to the commander's spine. If that is true then what are they using all of that power to do? "So, what do you want me to do?" she asked.

"We are planning to strike the complex tomorrow, however when we sent several aerial drones to recon the enemy's positions, they were all shot down. As a result we lack sufficient intel to deploy our units effectively. " Helian stated. "So tonight I want you to deploy several of your echelon teams to recon the area for tomorrow's assault."

"So is this mission strictly recon, or are there secondary objectives that need to be addressed?" The Commander asked.

"While we have a rough idea on what to expect from their external defenses, we have no idea if they built any underground emplacements or what they may be hiding within them. If you have the time, send a team to probe their defenses to locate and destroy any of these emplacements."

"Aright, I'll get some teams ready for tonight. Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Yes there is." Helian stated. "I know recently you have been concerned about AR-Team's condition. So I fulfill the request that Miss Kalina sent me." She then types something on her tablet.

An audio recording begins. " M4, M4!" one voice says "Hey M4, it's started!" another, young sounding voice said.

"Hello commander..." The voice said in a calm and weary manner. "It has been a week. I hope you are doing well? We are very safe here, and very well taken care of. Our movements are restricted, but... We completely understand the measures HQ has taken… After all, we are not the only ones who went through that ordeal, nor are we the only ones who...suffered… Do not worry about us, Commander. And thank you for the concern and protection you offer… We will actively cooperate with HQ's work and look forward to seeing you again…"

The recording stops.

There was a moment of silence before it was broken by Helian. "I'm sorry, but this is the best I can do in these uncertain times." The commander thought for a moment, wondering what to say next.

Again, this silence was broken by Helian."Is there anything you wish to say to M4?"

After a moment of thought, she began to speak. "Yes, there is." the commander stated.

Helian tapped her tablet a few times before a notification on the screen let the Commander know that it was recording.

"Hello M4," the Commander started. "I'm glad to hear that you and your teammates are well taken care of. I'm sorry that all of this has happened to you. You know that if there was a way to get you out of there and free to have your revenge, I would. But until HQ clears you there is nothing any of us here can do. I hope that once this is all over, we can get back to work, I know that's probably what SopMod 2 wants. I hope to see you soon… And sorry again for everything."

Helian ended the recording. "I'll send this to them as soon as I can." She looks up from her tablet. "Don't worry about them, once we confirm that they are not infected with the Parapluie virus, they will be returned to active duty."

"I understand." Said the commander. "If there is nothing else to discuss, then I would like to get my teams ready for tonight's operation."

"By all means."

Gentiane turns around to leave the room.

"Oh and one last thing." She turns around to the monitor to Helian. "Good luck Commander."

The Commander gives a nod before walking out of the door.

* * *

19:35 Local time Griffin's Sector S05 base

There was a lot of talk and whispers among the T-Dolls about this briefing. Nearly every doll in the base was called into this meeting, and the question on everyone's mind was why.

"I heard that they found the ringleader of the area." one dolls says.

"That's complete b.s. Scorpion." another explained "We only just got here, how could they have found a ringleader that quickly? You're just getting too wrapped up in the rumors spreading around. I think it's going to be a simple night patrol."

One of the others in the group joins in. "But if that's the case then why are so many of us called to the briefing? Don't you think that there is more going on than just a simple patrol?"

"You know, Garand has a point Shorty, maybe there is something else going on."

"HEY, WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?" shouted Super Shorty.

Before anything could start however, they hear the speakers at the front of the room turn on. As everyone turns their heads they can see the commander walking in front of a large briefing screen.

"Can I have your attention please." She exclaimed. Everyone stopped the conversations they had with each other to listen.

"Before we begin I would like to say that I'm happy with the performances of everyone over the past week. HQ has recognized us as top achieving units for our outstanding work." Everyone began to clap for a few seconds.

"HQ seems to view us to be worthy of being the go to unit for operations. That being said, let's begin today's briefing."

The large screen behind the commander displayed a moderate sized area with various hills and rock formations. At the center of this set of hills is what looks to be a large building with several smaller buildings surrounding it.

"What you are all looking at is a Sangvis research facility. The complex is small, only comprising a total area of around a square kilometer, this includes the surrounding support stations." She explained.

Pointing at the ground surrounding it she continues. "There are what appears to be dugouts at strategic points along the entrance and surrounding hills. However what kind of firepower these emplacements hold is currently unknown, as well as total troop strength. That's where we come in."

Several directional arrows pop on screen. "Our mission is to enter the area and give precise number counts of troop and emplacement strength for tomorrow's main assault. We will also be sending in a team to probe the defenses and plant demolition charges to make our job a lot easier." After she finishes, the Commander looks to the crowd of T-Dolls. "Any questions?"

One doll raises her hand. "How many teams will be deployed?"

"I plan on sending six teams total, four will infiltrate while two hang back and provide support if needed." The Commander responded. Another doll raises her hand "Yes?"

"What kind of defenses are we expecting?"

"We are expecting to encounter a well entrenched force. If you're wondering about specific numbers, that is what we are being sent in to find out."

A T-Doll near the front raised their hand. "What are our targets for the demo charges?"

"Your targets are any heavy equipment you come across during the mission. Communication relays are also considered targets."

"Is there a ringleader in the facility, NYA?" A doll shouts.

The Commander puts one of her hands on her face. "IDW how many times do I have to tell not to shout during a briefing?"

"Sorry" the doll says as she sits back down.

"To answer your question, we don't know. However given the amount of troops deployed in the area, there must be some kind of command unit keeping the place organized." After that answer the room went quiet. "Any more questions? No? Okay then let's move on."

Commander Gentiane looks over her list of echelon teams currently present. "Echelons 2 and 5, you are taking the approach from the south. Echelon 3 will be approaching from the south east and Echelon 1 will approach from the west. Echelons 4 and 7 will be overlooking the area from the hilltops from the southwest and northwest respectively."

The Dolls look at their commander waiting for what she will say next. "I want all Echelon teams ready to deploy in 20 minutes. Everyone else is dismissed." The commander begins to leave the room, leaving everyone looking around. Then group by group, they began to get up themselves and started making their way to the armory to suit up for combat.

* * *

20:17 Local time Sector S05 45km from Sector Base

The helicopter set down to drop off its load, a large metal crate. When it lands nearby, the five T-Dolls of Echelon 5 exit the craft and immediately raise their weapons to prepare for an encounter. After a few seconds the helicopter dusts off leaving them and the crate behind. The Dolls then move to open the crate, revealing it full of identical dummy bots of the team members, four for each member, as well as spare weapons and ammunition for these units. After a few minutes these units are activated and the team begins to move out towards their objective.

Echelon 5 is a well equipped unit for these types of ops. Close range attack with long range support. Though they did have to be equipped for night operations, this doesn't slow them down one bit. Grizzly MKV uses her speed and agility to climb on top of a nearby boulder and switches to night vision. With her eyes, she is able to quickly detect enemy movements and relays it to her teammates allowing for longer range encounters with minimal accuracy loss. She detects a small Sangvis patrol consisting of a squad of mobile turrets called "Prowlers" and a squad of humanoid sub-machine gunners nicknamed "Rippers"

After this information is relayed, the other dolls begin to set up for an ambush. The hill has a worn in pathway that moves around about halfway down, and any larger plant life that was once here has long since been removed, ensuring that there is little cover for the units to hide behind. Each doll takes its position behind rocks or laying along the slope of the hill ready to pounce once the word is given. They waited for only a few moments before they heard a large explosion going off far to their left. The Sangvis units looked in that direction readying to respond to the incoming threat. As they turned their backs, Grizzly gave the order.

"M2, open up."

"With pleasure." she responded. M2HB cocked her heavy machine gun and opened up a barrage of .50 Caliber rounds coming out at around 450 rounds per minute. The resulting attack cut down at least seven different units before they even reacted, turning them for once functioning robots into twisted scraps of other Sangvis units began to take defensive positions, but as they turned for cover, they started to take fire from both of their flanks. On their left came a Griffin T-Doll clad in heavy armor brandishing a shotgun and large riot shield. To their right, they started to take short, accurate bursts of rifle fire coming from one of the lower inclines of the hill.

"Spas-12 moving up." the doll with the riot shield said. She began to pepper her enemies with 12 gauge shotgun shells. Each shot she took brought another unit down. When these units retaliated, Spas used her shield to block most of the fire and what rounds did hit her made no effect on her armor. As she directed her dummy units forward, one of them took a heavy round to the arm on it's right side from higher up on the hill. Spas looked up and saw several figures kneeling at the top of the hill wearing large cloaks on their bodies firing rifles down on top of them.

"We got snipers at the top of the hill." She said,

"Don't worry, I see them." A doll over the radio said. As she said this, the heads of one of the snipers was suddenly blasted off. One by one the "Jaegers" as they are known, were shot to pieces by highly accurate shots to the head. Soon all of the units were eliminated.

Spas-12 relays in her comms, "Thanks for the support SRS."

"No problem." She responded. "Just continue to focus on the enemy in front of you, I'll watch your back."

After about 90 seconds of fighting, the last of the patrol was eliminated. The team regrouped at the pathway next to the carnage that they have created.

"That was really good Spas." The smallest of the dolls on the team said. This doll was timid and sickly looking, having a blood bag hanging from her waist and bandages wrapped around whole sections of her body. She walks up the the group using her rifle as if it were a crutch. "I wish I could do as good as you."

"Don't sell yourself short Ribeyrolles" Grizzly said. "You did a remarkable job keeping those units in place." Grizzly then looks up the hill "Well we better move and continue our mission before reinforcements show up."

The dolls nod their heads and move up the hill. At the top of the hill, the team looks down at the research facility that they have been tasked to recon. From their position, they can see that the Sangvis units have created a large system of barriers and large guns to repel any attack that comes its way. Behind these defenses however, they can see that there appears to be little to no effort to create a defense in depth. This brings a slight bit of confusion to the T-dolls as they are so used to a well prepared, well entrenched enemy. After a moment, M2 breaks the silence.

"Huh, this is not what I expected when I was told we would be going into a Sangvis controlled facility."

"Perhaps they have yet to complete their defenses." Grizzly said.

Srs joined in, "Well just because we don't see their defenses, doesn't mean that they are not there." She looks down and about 200 meters from their position, she sees a couple of mortar pits with some equipment within them. "Come on ladies, we still have a job to do."

As they walk down the hill, they look to their left and see off in the distance what looks to be a section of another hill across the way engulfed in flames.

"Looks like Vector is having a little too much fun again." Spas said rolling her eyes a little.

"What did you expect?" asked Grizzly. "She has always been a fire bug and the commander gave her free reign to do whatever amount of destruction she desires."

They continued down the hill to the mortar pits. There were three mortar pits in total, each having a single mortar unit and a squad of riflemen nicknamed "Vispids" by the dolls. They stealthily approached the pits and, once in position, opened fire. After a 20 second engagement, all units in the pits were eliminated.

"Hey Griz?" asked Ribeyrolles.

"Ya?" she asked back.

"Have you noticed that there are not that many Sangvis troops we've encountered since we got here?"

"Ya I noticed that too." said M2 "The squads we encountered on patrols for the last week have been at least twice this size. I mean look." She begins to gesture around at the pits they are currently in. "These pits normally hold three mortars each and twice the squads stationed here. What gives?"

Grizzly pondered this for a few seconds. "Ya I noticed that too. Maybe they pulled most of their forces back to defend the main building. I don't know. Either way, we should update the commander on our current status, right Srs?"

"I agree." Srs said. She turns on her radio. "Command, this is Echelon 5, we have taken out several Sangvis positions and are moving forward towards the main complex. Do you copy?"

The radio comes to life. "We copy. Move forward and alert of any unusual events that you encounter."

* * *

Meanwhile back at base, Commander Gentiane looks over the whole operation. She watched as the teams moved closer to the main complex. The commander notes the relative ease that the teams dispatched the Sangvis units. This fact concerns her.

"Is everything okay commander?" She hears behind her. When the commander turns, she sees her logistics officer Kalina, looking at her almost curiously.

"I don't know." the commander says. "For a base that seems to have a level of importance to them, there doesn't seem to be that much in the way of resistance. The amount of supplies they have been sending to this place and the amount of energy being consumed suggest a much larger force."

A smile begins to form on Kalina's face. "Maybe we did so much damage to them over the past couple weeks that this is all they have left to spare."

"Maybe," the commander thinks out loud to herself "but this still doesn't explain why they would need so much resources." The commander ponders this for a moment before her train of thought is interrupted by a call from one of her ground teams.

"Commander, this is Echelon 5." the doll over the radio says. "I can see the main entrance to the facility. I am asking for permission to enter the building and conduct internal recon."

The commander thought this over for a bit. The orders she was given were to recon the area and sabotage any heavy equipment the teams came across. While this order was implied to be about external recon, internal recon may prove just as valuable. However there are inherent risks for sending a unit into an enclosed space completely blind, but until recon is conducted, all you're doing is running into an engagement blind.

"Echelons 2 and 3, what are your current status?" she eventually asked.

The radio came to life. "Echelon 2 here, we just finished clearing another patrol of enemy units. We are about 150 meters from the main building and have a clear line of sight on the structure itself."

"Echelon 3 reporting." another voice said. "The southeastern defenses have been eliminated. Our current position is 125 meters from the main building. We are awaiting further instructions."

The commander thought for a few seconds before speaking into the radio.

"Echelon 5, you have permission to enter the structure for reconnaissance purposes." the commander started. "You are to move through the facility and hack into any active terminals you find for information. If you encounter heavy resistance then you are to exit the building immediately. Echelons 2 and 3, you are to be redirected to the main entrance to provide support to Echelon 5. However you are to remain outside the facility to maintain a clear exit for Echelon 5. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Ma'am." several voices responded.

"Good, now get it done."

The commander looked over the map and saw the respective teams move into position. A voice comes over the radio.

"Breaching." it says. An explosion can be heard before the voice comes back on. "Moving internal."

The commander says over the comms, "Echelon 5, I want you to switch on your camera feed so I can see what you see."

The leader of the team responded, "Yes Ma'am."

As she said this, five different video displays showed up on the screens lining the back wall. The commander watched as the dolls moved through the hallways, checking rooms for any presence of enemy units. The rooms appear to be empty, with a layer of dust covering much of the tables and equipment, showing that it had been a while since this place was last used. Other than a squad of rippers moving through the halls, there was little in the way of resistance. Eventually, the team came across an active terminal.

"Hacking in." one member said.

After a few seconds, they had access to the contents of the computer. They consisted of experimentation logs from the researchers that worked here before the fall of Sangvis Ferri. The logs seem to indicate that the researchers were experimenting with the possibility of teleportation, but it seems that little to no progress was made leading to a reduction and termination of their budget. The next logs appear to have been made recently. It outlines some kind of success and what looks like exploration logs.

"That doesn't seem good." Kalina said.

"No, it's not." the commander responded. "If these logs are true, then that would explain our lack of Sangvis troops in the area, and possibly the amount of power consumption that was recorded."

The commander thought about this for a moment. If Sangvis Ferri managed to make a working teleporter, then they can attack anywhere and everywhere they want with almost no restrictions. This can not come to pass.

"Echelon 5, do you know where these experiments were conducted?" the commander asked.

"Yes, there looks to be a large testing room at the center of the building." Srs states. "Do you want us to proceed?"

"Yes," the commander said "I want you to go there and shut down this machine. If Sangvis troops are moving through it I want to know where they are going."

"Understood commander. Moving out."

The dolls began to make their way to the room that the terminal pointed out to them. As they drew closer, the amount of patrols moving through the facility steadily increased. First a squad of vespids, then two squads of heavy machine gunners called stalkers, then five squads of rippers. There was a serious possibility that the team may run out of ammunition before they reach their destination.

The commander contemplated whether or not to call them out of the engagement. Their dummy units have been heavily damaged, some units being outright destroyed, and their ammo count was dwindling into dangerous levels. However if they don't continue to push forward, there is a good possibility that Sangvis units may destroy the teleporter before Griffin can even figure out where they are going, and that's if there is a teleporter waiting at the end of this hallway. There are too many things to consider and little time to think, so the only thing to do is to continue to move forward.

After several minutes of constant fighting, Echelon 2 finally made it to the testing room they found on the terminal.

"Spas, set the breaching charges." the squad leader said.

"Right." Spas responded. She began to put a breaching charge on the door. Once in place, everyone took a step back.

With a loud bang the door flew open, revealing a large room. The room itself is less than impressive, built more for utilitarian than style, though the room itself was in a state of early decay. Within this room lay many different experiments, ranging from simple table top demonstrations to large machines that do who knows what. In the center of it all, lay a large contraption.

It stood on maybe six meters high from what the dolls can estimate and was held up by three support beams that go down to the floor. At the highest joint to each leg, there was a cable that ran from the ceiling, presumably to help hold the structure up. At the center of the support beams, there was a large Tesla coil with an emitter that looks like something torn strait out of one of those old science fiction comic books from the old days. This emitter seemed to be sending out beams of electricity downward into something that was hard to describe.

"Echelon 5, report." the commander said. "What are you seeing in there?"

"It…'' one of the dolls said in disbelief. "It looks like someone…"

Another doll helped finish the statement, "It looks like someone tore a hole in reality."

The commander looked at the feed in astonishment. She couldn't believe it but there was a tear in reality. She saw the edges of this tear began to almost shimmer a wave as if it is fighting to remain open for as long as possible. Within this tear she saw what looked to be a forest, a thick green forest unlike much of the terrain surrounding the complex. As she watched as the Sangvis troops began moving through this portal, she saw something move in the background.

"Ribeyrolles," the commander said "look to your right about 30 degrees and up 15 degrees."

Ribeyrolles did as she commanded and saw what seemed to be a figure of some kind lurking in the shadows.

The commander, seeing this figure began to mumble to herself, "Could it be?"

Before any of the dolls had time to react, the figure made a bolt for the portal. With speed a position, it went from one side of the room to mere meters from the tear, firing on any Sangvis units in its way.

"Echelon 5," the commander stated in almost a shout, "do not let that unit get away. Capture that unit alive at all cost."

The members of Echelon 5 looked at each other in bewilderment before obeying their orders. They made a rush to the portal in an attempt to intercept the mysterious figure before it reached the tear. The team began firing on any Sangvis units in its way, spraying bullets everywhere hoping that some of them would hit their targets.

As they drew nearer to the tear, their video feed began to distort. Their comms began to fill with static, and the video feed began to fade. As they got closer to the tear, the power in the facility began to stutter, and the portal began to fade. The last thing the commander saw was Echelon 5, only an arms reach from the figure, enter the portal, before the whole feed was lost.

"Echelon 5, report." the commander said. "Echelon 5, report."

There was nothing but silence.

With much of the power levels that were going into the facility now lost, the only conclusion the commander came up with is that the tear had resealed.

"All Echelon teams," the commander stated over the radio. "Echelon 5 is missing in action. Their last known location was the central testing chamber in the main research building. All teams are to secure the whole of the complex and set up defensive positions in case of an enemy counter attack."

"Yes Ma'am" several voices over the radio stated.

"Kalina," the commander said.

"Yes?" Kalina asked.

"I want you to put Helian on the line." the commander said. She turned her head to slightly face the logistics officer. She saw a look of seriousness within the commanders face.

"Understood commander." she said "Opening a secure link now."

After a few moments the screen turned on.

"Hello commander." Helian said. "I assume that your recon of the facility was a success?"

Gentiane responded, "Yes it was. My teams are finishing off the last of the patrols as we speak. They should have the facility under our full control within a few moments."

Helian looked at the commander with a confused look. "I'm sorry can you repeat that? It sounded like to me that you said that the facility you were tasked to recon was infiltrated and taken."

"That is exactly what happened, miss." the commander said.

"Do I need to remind you that your mission was only to recon the situation and relay that information to me?"

"No, the mission you gave me was to recon the research facility _and_ to sabotage any Sangvis equipment we come across." the commander retorted. "My teams were able to get close enough to the main building to be able to conduct internal recon. As they moved through the facility, I sent the remainder of the Echelon teams outside to secure the perimeter."

Helian put a hand on her face and sighed in slight disappointment. "While I do appreciate your initiative, I do not condone your decision to assault the main complex without additional support. You do understand how much you could have lost?"

The commander was silent for a moment.

"I did lose a full team in the facility," she said "but it was for good reason."

The commander sent Helian the files that Echelon 5 was able to recover and send, as well as the video and comms recorded before being lost. She looked over the files for at least several minutes before responding.

"Now I see why you took the risk." she said "I do have to ask you one question."

"And that would be?"

"The lone figure running toward the portal, she that who I think it is?" she asked

"I don't know," the commander said. "That's why I sent Echelon 5 running after her, to confirm the identity."

"Well if that is the case, I will need to plan a course of action…"

"Ma'am" the commander said.

"What is it?"

"I think they should know."

"Can you please elaborate?"

"I think they have a right to know… to see this footage."

"You do understand the current situation…" Helian said.

"I know about all of that." the commander said. "But given how much they have done for Griffin and more importantly humanity, they should at least be informed of this development."

Helian thought for a moment. "While I see your point, this matter as a whole is too sensitive to allow it to be seen outside of necessary personnel."

"Then only show them the few seconds where they can see the figure and not the portal!" the commander shouted.

"Need I remind you that I am your superior officer. Any and all information that is collected and distributed goes through me, and I have full authority over what information goes where and who has access to it."

The commander lowered her head, "I'm sorry Ma'am."

"However seeing how passionate you are about this matter, I will see what I can do. But I am offering no promises that there will be an outcome that you desire."

"Thank you Ma'am."

"That being said, before any of that can be considered, the complex and surrounding area needs to be under our full control. I can assume that you will have the situation under control by the time the other commanders are informed about the recent change in plans?" Helian asked.

"Yes Ma'am." the commander said "My teams are already securing the premise as we speak."

"Good, I expect a full report made and sent to me by the morning. Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"

"No Ma'am, that is everything.'

"Good, if there is nothing else to discuss then I will let you do your work." Helian said. After she said this the communication with her ended, leaving the room in a state of silence.

Before she left, the commander turned to Kalina, "I want you to get started on writing the report on everything we know so far."

"Don't worry, I'll get on it right away." She said with a smile.

* * *

7:26 Local time, Griffin Sector S05 Area Detention Center codename "Mario's Princess"

The following morning was just like any other morning in the facility. The facility was once an old human sanitarium back in the mid 20th century to house the mentally unstable members of human kind. Today it has been converted to house malfunctioning and/or corrupted T-Dolls.

Within the facility, an almost robotic voice comes over the speaker system. "Routine inspections over. Tactical Dolls M4A1, M16A1, M4 SOPMOD II, please return to your quarters."

The three dolls exited the room. One of the dolls made a sigh of relief.

A small doll wearing a red Scandinavian type dress begins to direct them down the hallway. "This way please."

One of the dolls wearing a dark special operations jacket and miniskirt began to speak. "Gosh it's finally over… It's the same thing over and over every single day. When is this going to end?"

Another doll beside her answered her question. "Don't worry Sop-II, 16LAB is working on a way to counteract Parapluie. Once they get some result, they will turn us loose."

"Well I hope they finish up soon." Sopmod 2 said. "Ar-15 may be gone, but Sangvis Ferri is still running amok doing god knows what."

"Don't worry. We will get our vengeance. Helian promised us that once we are cleared, we will be assigned to take down Sangvis for good."

SopMod 2 began to make an almost evil looking face. "When I get out of here, I'm going to track down every last one of them, and I'm going to tear them climb from…"

"Shut it!" The doll at the front said. She turned her head to face the offending doll. "Will you just be quiet for five minutes?!"

SopMod 2 looked at her team leader with a surprised look. She had never heard such an outburst from her leader before.

"I'm sorry." Their leader said softly as she turned back.

"Sop-II, do you mind keeping it down a little. M4 has been taking this the hardest. You know how much she tried to put on a brave face for the commander."

"Sorry M16." SopMod 2 said. "I'll keep that in mind for the future."

As they moved through the facility, the doll guiding them back to their quarters turned and presented them with a tray of food.

"I am to inform you that breakfast is being served right now."

M4 looked down at the tray. "Cinnamon rolls again?" She said softly.

"My apologies, but at the moment all of my cooking skills consist of, are sandwiches and cinnamon rolls."

"So it's bread again?" SopMod 2 asked.

"I'm afraid so, command has limited the amount of resources coming into the facility as of late. This is the best that I can do."

M16 spoke up, "It's fine m45, you are doing your best with what you've got. The fact you try to spruce it up by making cinnamon rolls is more than enough."

M45 turns towards M4 who is walking away. "Miss M4, will you be joining us in the cafeteria, or should I send your food to your quarters?"

"I'm not hungry." M4 says.

"Miss M4, command has asked that you keep in mind your eating habits…"

"You mean that command has ordered me to eat. Is that what you are trying to say?" M4 asked. "So no matter what it is, as long as it's an order from Griffin I have to obey it?!"

M45 puts her hands up. "Please M4, calm down."

M4 continues "Who are they to lock me up in here?! We are T-Dolls produced by 16LAB! Were only loaned to Griffin!" She turns to m45 "DAMMIT!" m45 winces in fear at M4's outburst. Before she can continue, M16 intervenes.

"M4 that's enough!" She says "I know you're angry, but she is just a supervisor. There is no reason to turn her into your punching bag."

M45 begins to speak, "If everyone can just calm down.." Before she can continue, she gets a notification that someone is calling. "Who could this be?" She answers the call on a portable tablet she carries, and on the screen a familiar face appears.

"Good morning m45," Helian says "I hope everything is going okay there."

"Yes Ma'am everything is fine. I was in the process of escorting the members of AR-team back to their quarters after their scheduled morning treatments."

"Good to hear, I actually wanted to talk to them if that was okay."

"Of course, I'll put you on the nearest monitor." After saying this m45 moves the call to a larger monitor sitting on a nearby wall.

"Thank you m45." Helian says. "Now to the AR-team, how have you all been since the last time we talked?"

SopMod 2 speaks first, "I would like these tests to finally end so we can be cleared for active duty again. I really want to smash some Sangvis heads in right now."

"I'm sure you do." Helian said "That being said, the commander sent you all a recording that you may want to hear." She proceeds to play the recording that the commander made yesterday to the members of AR-team. They listen with a sense of happiness and relief that they have not been forgotten. Once the recording ends, Helian begins to speak.

"The commander cares a lot about all of you. I do hope that you can appreciate that."

M4 turns her head to the floor, feeling disappointed and ashamed at herself for her recent outburst.

"Now onto something that will bring a little joy to your hearts." Helian said, "Persica has approved your use in the field, granted under supervision. She says that she is sending a T-Doll to the facility to escort you out and act as a temporary member of your team until further notice."

M16 looks at her with a look of suspicion. "Why the change all of a sudden?" she asks. "First you tell us that we can have no contact outside of this place, and then you tell us we are clear for duty not even moments after we finish one of our tests. What happened?"

"The situation had developed. Most of the information is classified at this time, but the short of it is that Commander Gentiane took part in a recon op and found something that may interest you."

Helian taps away on her tablet, on screen came a video. The video was taken from a doll's built in surveillance system, and shows a team inside a large room with lots of what look to be experiments of some kind. As the doll moves her head around, they can see a figure in the shadows that almost looks like…

"Is that who I think it is?" SopMod 2 asked in disbelief.

"We don't know at this time. The team that recorded this footage was tasked to capture the figure, however all contact with the team has since been lost. Your mission is to locate the missing team, and finish their mission."

The members stared at the image on screen for what seemed like forever. Then M16 spoke up.

"So, is this mission capture or kill?" she asked.

"Capture is preferable, however if it comes to it, then kill if necessary."

M4 stared at the image while the others talked around her. So many thoughts were going through her head, so many questions. But one stood out above the rest. She asked this question over and over in her head before she mumbled the thought softly to herself.

"Ar-15, could that really be you?"

* * *

**A.N.**

**Well thank you for reading the very first chapter of what I hope to many more to come. Like I said before, this is my first story so any and all criticism is welcome. Also if you have questions I am more than happy to answer them, however I will say my knowledge of GF lore is limited, but I will answer what I can. **

**I will post as often as I can. My goal is to post at least once a month, so if within 30 or so days there isn't an update, then you have my full permission to PM me for the purpose of bugging me.**

**Thank you again for getting this far. See you next time.**


	2. First Contact

**AN:**

**I wanted to say before we begin, thank you for the reviews. Your comments and suggestions have been helpful to me in writing this chapter and the next. That being said I was expecting more along the lines of: "You need to organize your conversations better." or "You need to present fighting scenes in a way I can follow." but everything you've said was still helpful.**

**Also at the end of the chapter, I will be responding to some questions and comments.**

**That being said, there's no reason to delay this any longer.**

**I do not own anything in this story. Girls Frontline is a product of Mica Team and RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

Chapter 2

9:26 pm Local Time, Township of St. Vith around 2000 km southwest of the city of Vale

Robert Grey was sitting with his head on the table in the lobby of a local Inn within the limits of the township. The town itself is relatively large compared to other towns so close to the edge of the kingdom limits, running a population no more than 500 people. Grey and several other huntsmen were passing through the town earlier in the day to help with a job. They were in the process of transporting a delivery of dust from a mine just outside the limits of kingdom to Vale, only intending to pass through.

Of course that was the plan in the late morning. When they entered town, they found the place in a state of unease, so they stopped and asked what was going on. According to the townsfolk, the signal that connects them with nearby towns and the kingdom as a whole was down, leaving them cut off from the rest of the world. Grey has been to this town many times in the past, he knows that the town always got spotty signal reception due to the town's proximity to the mountains to their north, but never completely down. Just standing in the street, he could feel the fear in the air, and that means one thing…

Grimm

So, they decided to stay and help the town defend itself, as well as reconnect them to the rest of the world. First they inspected the outer defenses, a low cobblestone wall only about waist high at its tallest around much of the town with a watchtower at each of the entrances. The other huntsmen with him and a few brave townsfolk began to watch the ways into town, with them working in shifts. They also sent out a team to check on the nearby relay tower to see if it was damaged in any way, however after waiting for several hours and not hearing back from them, something may have happened to them. A search party was going to be sent to find them, but with them losing daylight at the time of the planning, everyone reluctantly decided to wait until the next morning to begin their search.

As he was thinking about this, a hand began to shake him slightly.

"Hey, you awake?" a feminine voice said. Grey looked up and saw the face of one of the huntresses who came with him.

"Yes I'm awake." He rubbed his right eye as he got up, obviously tired from the days work. "Aren't you supposed to be on watch right now?"

She gave him a smile as a quick chuckle, "I was, until Carmine came by to let me know that my shift was over. Then I went to see where you were."

"You know Poppy, there are things that you can do in your free time that don't involve me."

"I know," Poppy said "but things are more interesting when you're around."

Grey rolled his eyes. He had been working with her for many years now, and she has not changed one bit. They both met after they graduated from their respective schools, him from Beacon and her from Shade. They were helping some nomads passing through on their way to a village and they needed help due to a sighting of a pack of beowolves wandering nearby. After the job was done, Grey went on his way, she followed him, and as they say the rest is history.

He looked back her way, "So, as long as you're here, do you mind updating me on what's going on?"

"Well I have good news and bad news. I'll tell ya, but only if you get me a drink first." she responded.

"You know, we are supposed to be at our best. With communications down and the threat of an imminent Grimm attack, we have no idea what to expect for the rest of the night." Grey explained.

"Come on, how is one drink going to hurt?"

"Poppy." he said with a stern look at her.

She sighed "Alright fine." She took a chair and took a seat at the table next to him. "The good news is that we haven't seen anything pass by since we started setting up. The bad news is, we still haven't heard back from the group that was sent to the relay tower."

"What are we going to do? There's already the smell of fear in the air, a group of their own sent out never came back, and all we can do right now is sit and wait."

Grey felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry," Poppy said "We're going to do everything that we can to help. That's what we signed up for when we became huntsmen." Grey looked at her and smiled. She hadn't changed one bit.

All of a sudden someone came rushing in. "Mister Grey." He was one of the militia townspeople that was helping on the wall. "Sir, I was sent to find you. You are needed at the west tower."

Grey and Poppy both sprang up from their seats. "What's going on? Are the Grimm attacking?" He asked.

"You need to come look for yourself." the militia man said to them.

They both looked at each other, then they began to make their way to the western edge of town. On their way they passed by the local shops, general store and craftsmen shops. After about a minute run they reach the wall on the western edge of town. The wall was reinforced with some makeshift barricades and manned by several volunteers to watch the outside, and a wooden watchtower about 3 stories tall stood on the right just off of the road.

Grey approaches the tower. "What's going on out there Carmine?" he yells up there.

A voice responds to his question, "Come take a look for yourself."

Grey and Poppy climbed up the ladder to the observation level where they met up with one of the other huntsman that came with them in the convoy. They see that Carmine is looking through a pair of binoculars out at the treeline.

As Grey approaches, Carmine hands him the binoculars. "Take a look. Treeline, over by that large rock, tell me what you see."

Grey does as he was instructed and starts looking in that direction. When he finds the spot that his friend was talking about, he could see why he was called here. He saw movement of what looks like somebody with a ponytail wearing a large cloak on her. Next thing he knew, he saw other figures in the treeline.

"I see something moving out there. It looks like there's people out there?" Grey asked.

Carmine nodded "I noticed them a little while ago. At first I thought they might be our missing group, but as I watched them, they made no attempt to approach."

"They don't look like anyone from the town. In addition they look to be wearing camouflage maybe? Are they waiting for something?"

Poppy makes a comment "Do you think they could be from the Atlas base nearby?"

"Maybe," Carmine said. "But they could also be a group of bandits that are positioning themselves for an attack."

"Well the bandit theory would explain the loss of communications and our missing group." Grey said. "However they seem to be more organized than your average group of marauders."

As they are talking, a lone figure begins to make their way to their line. They can see that this person is small in stature, with long white hair in twin tails. She is wearing a short black dress with what looks to be…

"Are those grenade launchers she's wearing!?" Poppy asked.

"It sure looks like it." Grey said.

"What do you think she wants?"

"I think we're going to find out here in a minute."

The young girl walks about 150 yards from the treeline before she begins to speak. "Lowly humans, you are now in the territory of Sangvis Ferri. Surrender yourselves now or face prompt and utter destruction."

The huntsmen collectively looked at each other, unsure on how to respond. Then someone in the wall below them shouted out a question. "Are you serious?"

"Yes I'm serious!" she says in an annoyed tone. "I am Destroyer, and my gracious leader has given you all the chance to live, so you all must bow before me as your new lord of this land."

Grey looks at his teammates, silently asking what to do next. The others just shrugged their shoulders, unsure what to do. Grey considers his options for a moment before he turns and tries to speak with the person.

"Miss Destroyer," he starts "I appreciate your proposal for our surrender, but I'm afraid we will have to decline your offer."

She takes a stance trying to imitate confidence and begins to speak. "I'll have you know that if you value your lives, you are making a terrible mistake. This offer is one time only and will not be given again under any circumstances."

All of a sudden, they hear someone shout from below them, "Maybe they should have sent someone a little more mature, or at least a little taller!" This comment started a round of laughter among the militia.

Poppy goes up to Grey, "Well at least morale has been given a boost."

Grey chuckles to himself, "I guess."

Destroyer begins to tense up and takes a stance of anger before shouting, "How dare you! I am a ringleader of Sangvis Ferri, and I should not be treated like this! Especially from lowly humans like you!"

"That's enough Destroyer." a voice over the radio says in a calm manner.

Carmine confused, looks over to Grey, "Another one? Did they hack our radios?"

Grey looks at the radio. "I don't know" he says, "Let's find out what this one wants." He goes over to the radio and begins to speak into it. "May I ask who I'm speaking to now?"

The voice comes over the radio in response, "I am Elite Defense Doll, Model SPACA, but you can call me Dreamer."

"Okay… Dreamer, what is it you want?" Grey asked.

"Firstly, I would like to apologize for the behavior of my subordinate. She can be a little… childish, sometimes."

The hear a shout in the distance "Hey!"

"However to answer your question, it's quite simple. Like my subordinate said before, you are now under the jurisdiction of Sangvis Ferri, and as such you are to bow before us and comply with any and all demands that we make."

"And if we refuse?" Carmine asked.

"I believe the alternative you were given was…" she seems to trail off for a minute. "Ah yes, prompt and utter destruction."

"Give us a minute to talk this over." Grey said.

"I'm sorry, but no. We are a little short on time and require an immediate answer."

Grey sighed "If that's the case, then I'm afraid that we will have to decline. These people have spent generations building their lives here, and they won't abandon it so soon. At least not without a fight."

There was a moment of silence before the radio cracked to life. "If that is what you want, then I will not deny you that." She says, the radio cuts out, and an eerie silence washes over the area. Everyone sat where they were, waiting for whatever came next. The figure by the name of Destroyer stood still, as if she was waiting for something as well.

Just then, the huntsmen heard what sounded like thumps coming from the off in the distance, followed by a whistle moving across the sky, coming towards them. As the whistling grew nearer, it dawned on Grey just what was coming for them. In a quick dash, he ran to the edge of the tower and shouted to the militia below.

"Get down!"

The moment he said this, a series of explosions hit the people stationed at the wall. Mortar shells began to hit the various positions set up by townspeople. One after another the mortars rained down on the towns defenders, devolving the well organized defense into a chaotic mess. Poppy and Carmine rushed over to witness the carnage unfolding.

"How are targeting the wall so effectively?" Poppy asked.

"They must have been scouting us out and took note of our defenses while those leaders of theirs were distracting us." Carmine said.

Grey grabbed his weapon and began to load it. "However they did it doesn't matter. The only thing we need to worry about right now is to help fend off the attack."

Both Poppy and Carmine looked at Grey before nodding in agreement. As they finished, the mortar barrage stopped. The group looked out at the tree line and saw a wave of soldiers with machine robots filling in parts of their ranks begin to march toward the town. When the soldiers got to Destroyer, she joined the march leading the incoming army.

Grey turned to his teammates "Poppy, go down to the townsfolk and help evacuate the injured to somewhere safe."

"Right, I'm on it." she says. She then rushes to the back of the tower, with her staff in hand and makes a jump to the ground, sprinting to the remaining defenders that survived the round of mortar fire.

"Carmine, I want you to provide sniper support from this tower."

"You got it boss," he says. Carmine brings out his railgun rifle and sets up a field of fire. After that Grey went down to the now destroyed line and set up his crossbow, ready for the fight coming his way.

* * *

Meanwhile in an open field at the center of a large clearing in a forest some distance away from the battle, a group of T-Dolls' holds another at gunpoint.

"Hands where I can see them!" Shouted Spas-12. The offending doll, facing away with her back towards the group, does what she is instructed to do.

Srs, still holding her weapon at the ready commands the doll further. "Turn around, slowly."

The doll does as she is instructed again, turning around, hands still in the air, to face the group. Once she finished turning, the Dolls of Echelon 5 finally got a good look at their target. The doll had long pinkish hair with a single magenta streak on her right side. She wore a short white dress, a dark blue jacket and a single thigh high legging on her left leg with the letters SPR. She had a suppressed, scoped rifle by her side.

Srs approached the doll, "ST AR-15, you are hereby under arrest for defection and disobeying the orders of your commanding officer. You are going to be transported to the nearest Griffin outpost where you will be processed accordingly."

Grizzly opens her communication channel. "Commander this is Grizzly, we have AR-15 in custody and are returning to base."

They are met with silence.

"Command, do you copy?" There still was no answer. "Srs, I can't get in contact with command. I think there may be a Sangvis jamming signal nearby."

Srs thought for a moment, "Okay Grizzly and Ribeyrolles, I want you to scout ahead and find out where exactly we are. Then I want you to…" She turns to Ribeyrolles who appears to be staring at the sky. "Ribeyrolles, are you listening?"

Still staring up at the sky, she asks "Has the moon always looked like that?"

Confused everyone makes a glance upward. They see the starry night sky, undisturbed by any light pollution. As they turn their gaze to the moon, all they could do is look at it in astonishment. What they saw was the moon, broken, almost shattered, sitting in the night sky. So many questions began to flood their minds, but not one of them spoke, until the silence was broken by their new prisoner.

"Staring won't fix it." she says.

Srs turned her gaze to the doll, "Did I give you permission to speak?" she asked.

"No," AR-15 replied, "But someone had to break the silence and move us along."

Srs squinted her eyes and began to slowly approach the doll. "What do you know about this place? Where are we?" she asked.

AR-15 stared back, hands still in the air. "Not much, and I don't know." The other dolls seem to break the trance that they were in and began to stare at AR-15. "All I know is Sangvi Ferri found something and I was sent to investigate."

Grizzly looked at the doll, "By who?" she asked. AR-15 remained silent. The silence was only broken by the sound of explosions off in the distance. The dolls readied their weapons, preparing for a fight.

"I would advise against that." AR-15 said.

"Why is that?" Srs asked.

"Because, you are battered, behind enemy lines with no support coming anytime soon and most importantly, heavily outmatched."

Srs looks at her team, she can see what she was talking about. The fight through the facility had caused the destruction of all of their Dummy units and drained much of their ammo. Even if these problems weren't there, they are behind enemy lines with only enough rations for a short hit-and-run engagement, not a long drawn out expedition to a new world.

'New world?' Srs thought. The concept seemed so alien to her, like it came out of one of those pre-disaster Sci-fi comic books. However given the situation that they were in, it almost made sense.

"Miss Srs,"

She looked down and saw Ribeyrolles standing next to her with worry in her eyes. "What are we supposed to do?"

She thought for a moment before saying, "Well, the last order we had was to capture AR-15 and bring her back to base. So that's what we are going to do."

"How are we going to do that?" Spas asked.

Srs looked around. She knew that they came through a portal to get here. If they could find it, then they can all get home. However as she scanned the area around her, she saw no such portal.

"It's not here." AR-15 said. Srs turned to face her and asked, "What do you mean?"

"The portal, It's not here, at least not anymore." The dolls raised their weapons at her expecting some kind of answer. "What I mean is, the tear you saw can only open from the facilities' side. With it now closed, there is no way that any of you can return home."

"How do you know so much about this 'Tear'?" M2HB asked

"I only know as much as was able to read in the reports that Sangvis had made." She answered. "The reports say, that while not impossible to open it from this side, one would need to set up the right equipment to open it. Sangvis on the other hand had no need for this."

"What do you mean?" asked Spas.

Grizzly answered the question instead. "I think she means that Sangvis had no intention of returning and thus planned for this to be a one way trip. Am I correct?"

"From what I can tell, yes." AR-15 said.

"Okay," said M2, "so all we need to do is wait here for them to reopen the portal and we can all go home."

Srs looked at M2, "I don't think that's a good idea." She said

"Why not?"

"We are in an exposed position and low on supplies with no way of knowing how long we are going to be here, not to mention that Sangvis is nearby. This place is not safe for us."

"Even if it's not, where do we go?" Grizzly asked.

Srs turns to AR-15, "Was there anything in those reports that said something about human settlements?" She asked.

AR-15 looked at her, "It talks about a military outpost over the mountains, but from the sounds of the explosions, it looks like Sangvis is making a beeline for it. However it also talks about heavy radio traffic coming from the northeast. My best guess is to head that way."

Srs thought about it. Radio traffic from the northeast would mean civilization, but the question is, 'how far away?' She knew that Ar-15 was right about Sangvis, they could circle back around and eliminate them at any moment. She considered her options carefully, before turning to AR-15.

"Listen," she says to AR-15, "our orders are to bring you in alive, so we won't let you out of our sight. But considering the situation we are in, and seeing that you may have a plan, I was wondering if you would allow us to follow you to the nearest human settlement for us to resupply."

AR-15 sighed as she lowered her hands down to her side and proceeded to grab her rifle. "Alright," she said "but understand that until we get to a settlement, I highly recommend that you follow any and all advice I give. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

"Okay then." She turns and begins to walk into the forest.

Srs turns to Grizzly "Grizzly, do you mind setting up a marked recording of where we are going?"

Grizzly nods her head. "Of course." She takes out a small audio recorder and makes note of the date and time, then begins to record about their current situation, as well as their plan to head to the northeast and find a human settlement to resupply. After the recording was made, she took a stick and tied the recorder to it with a piece of spare cloth.

After this was done, they headed off to follow AR-15 to destinations unknown, unsure what may be in store for them along the way.

* * *

Destroyer walked through the ruins of what was once a human settlement. What buildings that were not on fire, were nothing more than piles of rubble on the ground. The burnt and mangled corpses of the human defenders lay scattered all around her. She will admit that they put up a pretty good fight, especially the leaders of the defense, but in the end they were no match for the might of Sangvis Ferri.

Though this attack did delay their advance towards the military outpost that their scouts had discovered. How inconvenient. As she walks through the town, she gets a call for her so called 'leader'.

"Ah Destroyer, taking a leisurely stroll through the town are we?" Dreamer asks in a teasing tone.

"I'm just making sure that I got all of them." Destroyer says back. "We can't let even one human to leave alive to warn the surrounding settlements of our presence."

"Don't worry about it too much, if there were any survivors that made it out of town, they won't last long in the wilderness."

"And if they do?" Destroyer asked.

"It wouldn't matter. With their relay tower down, all communication in the area is out as well. Even if there was still some kind of connection to make, our signal jammers would drown them out anyway." Dreamer explained.

"I suggest not to be so arrogant Dreamer." A voice said over the radio.

"Miss Agent!" Destroyer said, surprised to hear her over the radio. "How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough." she said "But to get to my point, if there is one thing humans are, it's tenacious. They are like cockroaches, if even one escapes from our grasp, they will spread whatever they know and have seen to others, and return with a vengeance."

"Ha!" exclaimed Destroyer, "Let them come, I will lay waste to every single…" in the middle of her statement, she was interrupted.

"Need I remind you 'little one' that we currently lack the popper supplies for prolong engagements, or have no means of repairing our equipment in an orderly manner, nor established a central base of operations yet?" Agent asked. Destroyer thought for a moment, before slumping down in silence. "Dreamer, what is your current status?"

Dreamer comes onto the radio, "We just finished the fight in the town and are moving to the rendezvous point. We should be in position within a couple of hours. We also have a shipment of energy crystals that the humans were using in tow."

"Good." Agent said "Have Destroyer send out a forward unit and clear the main force a path. In addition, I want you to keep a few squads in the town to mop up any survivors. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Ma'am"

"Then get it done." The radio falls silent for a moment before Dreamer comes back on.

"You heard her 'Little One', get going. We don't want to disappoint the boss."

Destroyer pouts to herself and mumbles, "Lets see who's the little one once I get my upgrades." She begins to make her way in the direction that she was ordered to go, leaving behind two squads of rippers to comb the town for any stragglers.

* * *

05:13 Local Time, 404 Temporary Headquarters within [SECTOR NOT FOUND]

UMP 45 woke up and stretched her arms. Afterwards she unplugged herself from the makeshift charging port that they had put together. She looked over to her alert system and saw that there was a contract that was waiting for their acceptance. She put her feet on the floor and began to walk around, looking for where her teammates were.

The place that they were at was an abandoned factory from before the war. It once manufactured automobiles in its heyday, but now it was a shell of its former self. The main structure was decayed to nothing more than a steel skeleton with at least three fully intact walls a roof with only a few holes in it. All of the glass in the windows has long since been shattered, letting the interior be subjected to the elements. What few machines remain show signs of extreme rust, no that they can get them up and running anyway. They managed to get a few solar panels on the roof working to allow some power to come in.

45 looked and saw one member of her team in the charging port next to hers. The doll looked almost similar to her with only the hair color being different at first glance. UMP 9 had decided to sleep next to her sister. This brought a small smirk to 45's face.

This was interrupted by several gunshots that rang out within the base. 45 simplified rolled her eyes, activated the charger's automatic wake up sequence, and proceeded to the source of the noise. She headed through the factory's administration offices to the balcony overlooking the main floor. She saw two other members of her team down there, one wrapped up in a sleeping bag put up against a wall, and the other shooting her rifle at some empty ration cans.

45 spoke, "You may be a crack shot, but what you need to really work on is your hand-to-hand combat."

The doll fires a round into the last can she had set up before turning to 45. "Unless you are willing to be my punching bag for a few minutes, I think I'll stick with target practice." the doll says.

The doll's name was HK-416. She wore her usual dark blue and black military jacket and skirt. Attached to her belt harness was extra ammunition pouches as well as a medium sized bag that she wore by her hip. On top of her long silver hair, she had on a military beret with a special forces type emblem on the front.

"May I ask why I'm being interrupted during my target practice?" she asked.

45 smirked, "Just enjoying the show." she said, "Well in reality I wanted to get everyone together because we have a new job coming in. So get your stuff ready and get to the meeting room." She turned to head back but stopped to say one more thing. "Oh, and make sure that she is present for the meeting, okay?" 45 points to the other doll sleeping on the wall. After that, she made her exit.

416 grabbed up her things and walked over to the sleeping doll. "Come on, get up." she said while shaking the doll with her foot. "The boss wants everyone in the meeting room."

The doll responds in a tired tone, "I don't wanna get up. Too tired."

"G11, don't make me carry you to the meeting, because I will drag you across the ground and have you hit your head on every stair on the way up."

The doll begins to stir from her sleep, "Fine, I'm getting up." She starts to wiggle her way out of the sleeping bag and stand at her feet. Rubbing her eye, she begins to make her way upstairs to see what they are needed for.

After about 5 minutes, the group assembles in the meeting room, an old executive's meeting room with a couple of monitors that still worked. The dolls sat around the worn down table as 45 opened up the communication with their contract giver. A young woman with braided white hair appeared on screen.

"Ah, UMP 45. You must be calling about the contract that I sent you, right?" she asked

45 nodded her head, "That's right Sier. May I ask who this contract is from?"

Sier looked down at her notes. "It seems to be from Miss Helian from Griffin. Allow me to put you through to her." The screen momentarily goes black before the image of an older woman comes up.

"Good, you answered." she said. "And I can see that everyone is already here."

416 crossed her arms, "What is this mission about?" she asked.

"Down to business as usual I see." Helian adds several images to the screen. "What you are currently seeing is a Sangvis research facility that has been working on some sort of teleportation technology."

"Is this tech operational?" UMP 9 asked.

"Normally I would say no, but then again, normally I don't need to call you for a job."

"So this stuff is operational." 45 said.

"The equipment is, and Sangvis used it. Where they went, we aren't quite sure."

"What do you mean?"

Helian tapped on her tablet and brought up a collection of files. "These are reconnaissance reports that Sangvis had collected from their ventures, and from what you can read, the place that they went seems to be a little off."

416 raised an eyebrow, "Off?"

"The reports seem normal enough. Forests, mountains in the distance, human settlements, the whole nine yards. However as they make deeper reconnaissance, they come across things that seem…" She pauses for a second, "Out of this world."

The group began to look at each other in confusion before 45 spoke. "What do you mean by 'Out of this world'?"

She brings up an image of a research station with what looks to be a couple of colored crystals on them. "What you are looking at is some samples that their recon teams brought back. The team took note that these crystals have some sort of, energetic abilities to them. These 'Energy Crystals' seem to have different abilities depending on their color, such as fire for red, or ice for light blue."

Several images popped on screen showing Sangvis units in a forest using these crystals. 9 and G11 looked in astonishment at the images, it was like they were using some kind of technology akin to almost magic.

Helian continued "They brought these crystals back to test them in laboratory settings, however their notes state that upon being brought back, the crystals were rendered inert."

"So they're just as useless to them as other gemstones, unless they are within the world that the crystals formed." 416 stated.

"That is correct, but given the actions they have taken, Sangvis seems very eager to integrate this new discovery with their tech."

"But the crystals only work in the other world." UMP 9 said.

"Well, that won't be a problem if you up and move your entire operations." 45 said. "Am I correct Miss Helian?"

She nodded, "That does appear to be the case. We will be sending in a task force within the next couple of days to pursue them. They will also be tasked with contacting the local settlements and begin to gather information about this world."

"So you're sending us with the task force?" 416 asked.

"Yes and no. You will be with the task force up until you enter the area, after which you will break off and conduct a deep level of reconnaissance within this world."

"What kind of reconnaissance?" 45 asked.

"Other than the files that we managed to get a hold of, this place is a complete unknown to us. You're tasked with gathering information that the task force may not be pervy to during their contact."

"So, we go undercover and take any and all information that we see fit to better inform Griffin operations. Are we looking for anything specific?" 45 asked.

"Like I said, anything that they might be keeping secret from us."

416 raised her hand before speaking. "What about casualties?"

"You will be permitted to use lethal force if the situation calls for it, granted it's not used against Griffin personal or equipment. However I will say that any and all messes that you create must be done quietly and cleaned up before anyone notices." Helian crosses her arms and looks at the team, "Any more questions?"

The room was silent for a couple seconds before 45 spoke, "If this is a new world and we'll be operating in this world for an extended period of time, how would maintenance and payment work?"

"Good question," Helian said. "As you will need to have a level of covertness, any and all repairs must be made 'In the field' so to speak. As for payment, it will be safe to assume that any people over there won't accept our currency. But if history has taught us something, is that there is a safe method of obtaining a foreign currency."

"Gold?" 416 asked.

She nodded "Yes gold. You will be sent over there with a bag containing four unmarked 1 kg, 24 carat bars that will be exchanged for their local currency. What you do with the money afterwards is up to your discretion, but I do hope that you will spend that money on covering expenses for maintaining your cover. Any additional funds that you would require will need to be raised by yourselves."

The group turns towards 45, waiting for a response. She thinks about it for a moment before giving her answer.

"We'll do it." she says "When are we being sent out?"

"You will be sent out with the task force in a couple of days, I will send you the location of the facility."

"If that's everything, then we would like some time to get ready for our deployment." 45 says.

"That is understandable." Helian said "However I want no word of a rogue T-Doll unit running around in the area, understood?"

45 raises her hands, "Miss Helian, don't you know?" She leans forward slightly, giving a small smirk. "We are the ones who don't exist."

Helian looked at them, "Of course you are." she says before ending the call.

45 turns to the other members sitting at her table. "9, I want you to start packing our electronics equipment. 416, you're in charge of ammunition and rations. G11, contact Seir and let her know what's going on, then help 416 with whatever she needs."

"Right." said the group before getting up from the table and proceeding off to do their duties. Preparing for a quite unusual mission.

* * *

08:15 Local time, Sector S05 temporary headquarters code-named "Charon"

Commander Gentaine walked through the halls of the former Sangvis research facility. She saw the scars of the battle that took place here between them and Echelon 5, their damaged and destroyed dummy units littering parts of the hallway. It had been close to 36 hours since they had lost contact with Echelon 5, and everyone was on edge. No one knows what happened to the group, nor what has happened since, and it's safe to say that many of their friends are concerned if they are okay. All she does know is that everyone is waiting for the green light to go through the portal.

As she was thinking about this, Kalina came up to her with her tablet in hand.

"Commander," she said "I got together the reports you wanted, and they are waiting for you in your office."

"Thank you." the commander said.

Kalina continued, "The list of all available Echelon teams are sitting on your desk. I also put together a list of things that Miss Helian wants us to accomplish while we are deployed on the other side."

"That's good, I'll take a look at them shortly."

"In addition, the replacement member for AR-Team had arrived at the base a few minutes ago."

"Of course." the commander said. The replacement, the T-doll that they now have to call their teammate. The loss of one of their own must still be fresh in their minds, and yet they are being sent out on a possible lead that their friend may still be alive. That's not something that she was envious about.

"Anything else I should know about?" the commander asked.

"Yes, one last thing, the chopper carrying AR-Team will be arriving shortly."

The commander stopped for a moment. She processed this information in her mind, before she began to walk towards the landing pad.

"Then it's only fair that we greet them when they land." she said.

Meanwhile, the members of AR-Team sat in a helicopter as they approached their landing sight. M4 looked around the cabin and saw the anxious faces of her teammates. Though she had seen those faces every time they were deployed, this time seemed different in a way. Rather than the faces of imminent battle, she sees the faces of hurt and potential loss, or worse, the thought of hope in the front of the mind but the thought of more loss in the back. She can't blame them for thinking this way, not after what they've been through.

Beside them were several other T-dolls used as an armed escort for them. Their team was composed of dolls with british made weapons: Bren, L85A1, and Welrod. Their team leader told them before they entered the chopper that they're there to ensure that AR-Team doesn't try anything while they are being transferred. M4 thought this was unnecessary, even if they were to steal the chopper, they would still end up at the same place anyway.

The pilot came over the intercom, "We are approaching the landing sight now."

The side doors opened up and they saw the nearby set of buildings. The buildings don't seem impressive in anyway, just a simple complex with a few lines of makeshift trenches surrounding it and a makeshift landing pad. As the helicopter began to make its descent, they could see that there were several people already waiting for them. As they got closer, they could see that standing there was the commander, Kalina, and a T-doll that they don't recognize. When their transport finally landed, Sop-2 jumped out of the craft and ran up to the commander, proceeding to give her a massive hug.

"Oh, it's so good to see you commander!" she said, slamming into her with enough force to almost knock her to the ground.

The commander, after recovering from the sudden greeting, a small smile formed on her face and she began to pat the head of the doll. "It's good to see you too Sop-2."

The moment quickly ended with one of the escorts pointing their gun at Sop-Mod 2 and the commander. "Hands off the commander and step away slowly!" Bren ordered.

The commander got up, Sop-2 still hanging on, and looked at the dolls. "Stand down Bren, this is perfectly fine. She has no intention to hurt me." she said.

"But commander…" Bren started

"Are you disobeying a direct order for your commander?"

Bren looked uneasy before Welrod put her hand on the gun and lowered it for her.

"Our apologies commander. We were ordered to escort AR-Team and ensure that they don't do anything that may harm Griffin's personal and/or property." Welrod explained.

"I understand," the commander said, "however it's safe to say that they won't harm anyone right now." She turns to Sop-2, "Isn't that right?"

SopMod 2 nods her head in agreement. The commander then motioned for the other two members to move forward. When that got to within a few feet from her, the commander spoke.

"So, how have you all been?" She asked.

"We're fine," M16 said "nothing that we couldn't handle."

SopMod 2 spoke, "It was awful, they hooked us up to large machines that poked and prodded us at every hour of the day! They wouldn't let us outside or even a good meal! All they would serve to us was cinnamon rolls!"

The commander raised an eyebrow, "Cinnamon rolls?" She asked.

"Yes." She said with a small tear in her eye.

"Well I'm sorry that you were all treated that way." A doll next to the group said. "I can put in a requisition for better food for the detention center in the future."

AR-Team looked at the doll standing next to everyone.

"Who are you?" M16 asked.

"Her name is RO635, she will be the new member of your team." The commander said.

RO did a small bow to greet them. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to working with you in the future. " She said.

The rest of them looked at their new member. The group seemed to have mixed reactions to the news. RO walked up to M4 and put out her hand to shake.

"It's good to finally meet you M4A1." She said, M4 looked at the hand, before turning to the commander. "Where will we be staying during our time here?" M4 asked.

Kalina spoke up. "Well if you will follow me, I will show you." M4 followed her inside the facility.

The commander looked at M16. "Is she okay?" She asked.

M16 shrugged her shoulders. "She'll be okay, she just needs some time to adjust to things." M16 turns to RO, "No offense to you."

"None taken." RO said.

The Commander looked at her watch, she then ushered Sop-2 off of her. "Okay, that's enough Sop-2. I have business to attend to, I'm afraid."

SopMod 2 got off of her and stepped back to M16.

"That being said, there is a briefing in 30 minutes about the current mission. I will expect all of you to be in attendance." She says, "Yes Ma'am." They all said back to her.

The commander nodded, "Aright, then you are all dismissed." After saying this, she walked away leaving the Dolls on the landing pad to make their way into the facility on their own.

* * *

Some time later, AR-Team meets back up with M4. She seems to be by herself, sitting on one of the cots in the room. M16 looks to SopMod 2 and RO who are both talking to one another.

"Hey," M16 says. "You two start heading to the briefing room. I want to talk with M4 for a minute alone."

"Ya sure thing." Sop 2 said. They both left down the hall out of sight, then M16 entered the room.

"Hey." She said to M4, she doesn't respond. "Hey M4." She says leader. This caught her attention. "Hey, how are you doing? Spacing out there for a minute?"

"Ya," M4 says "but I'm fine now."

M16 looks down at her team leader with concern. "You don't look alright to me." M4 turns her head away. "You know, you hurt RO635's feelings when you didn't greet her back. She seemed so eager to meet you, only for you to give her the cold shoulder."

"I'm sorry" M4 said softly.

"Don't apologize to me, it's RO you have to apologize to." She looks down at M4, slumping down in sorrow. "M4, look at me." She turns her face to M16, "Tell me what's going on. What's going through your head right now?"

M4 thought for a moment, "Everything almost seems back to normal, almost like nothing bad happened, almost like…"

"AR-15 is still here." M16 finished for her.

"Ya." M4 said softly "Like I'm sitting here and at any moment she is going to walk through that door and say that she is okay. That I'm going to wake up and she'll be there and tell me that all of this was a bad dream."

"Well, she would more likely say that dreams are irrelevant and to get out of bed so you can get to your duties." M16 said.

This brought a small chuckle out of M4. M16 crouched down and spoke to M4.

"Listen," M16 started "we have been given a grand opportunity. We have spent this last week or two not knowing what happened to AR-15 and why. Now we may get that chance."

"You're just trying to make me feel better." M4 says. M16 raised an eyebrow before M4 continued. "I know what I saw the last time I was with AR-15. I know for a fact that she couldn't have survived that explosion. There is no way that was her in the video."

M16 got up and looked down at M4. "That may be true," she put out her hand towards M4, "but there is still a chance that she did survive." M4 looked up at her teammate. "But either way, there is only one way to find out for sure."

M4 looks at the hand being presented to her, then she takes hold of it and M16 lifts her to her feet.

"Aright," M4 says, "what's the plan?"

"The commander is having a briefing on the situation here in a few minutes. She wants everyone in attendance."

M4 smiles, "You lead the way." The two exit the room and begin to make their way to the briefing room.

* * *

08:50 Local time, Sector S05 temporary headquarters code-named "Charon"

The T-Dolls from all over the base that were not needed elsewhere began to file into the makeshift briefing room. It was hastily put together conglomeration of monitors, many tables and chairs, and a map of the local area. The dolls all went around and made groups with friends and teammates, conversing about the upcoming mission.

M4A1 and M16A1 both walked into the room, looking around to see if they could find their other teammates. Just then, there was a tug on M4's sleeve. She looked to her right and saw a small doll in a brown and white dress looking at her.

"Excuse me," she said "are you Miss M4A1?"

"Yes I am." M4 replied. The small doll seemed afraid, well less afraid of M4 and more shy to speak to her.

"My name is FN FNC and.." she trailed off for a second, trying to compose together a sentence. "I… I wanted to say…. Thank you."

"Thank you?" M4 asked

"Yes, for saving us during the Sangvis raid on Griffin's main base. I never got to thank you for that."

"It's okay. I was only doing my job."

FNC's voice became louder, "No. If it wasn't for you and your team, my friends and I wouldn't be standing here today." She began to go through her pocket. "And as a token of my appreciation, I want to give you this." As she said this, FNC produced an unopened chocolate bar and presented it to M4. She looked at the bar.

"You're giving this to me?" She asked.

"Of course, it's all I have to give you, but I'm sure in time I can get you an even better present."

M4 smiled, "No, you don't have to. This gift is more than enough." She takes the chocolate bar out of FNC's hand and looks down at her. "Thank you."

FNC smiles back. Just then another doll comes up to the duo, this one wearing a small white dress and a small black jacket.

"FNC, what are you doing?" she asks. The doll then turns towards M4, "I'm sorry, is she bothering you? I can take her away if she is."

"No, it's no trouble at all. She actually wanted to say thank you for helping her and her friends."

"Is that so?" she asked. Turning to FNC she says, "Why don't you go off and find Five-Seven. I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

FNC gives a little salute, "I'm on it Miss Fal." Then she walks off into the crowd.

M16 walks up, "So you're the leader of FN squadron, aren't you."

Fal smiles, "That's me, the doll with the best fashion sense out of everyone in Griffin." she looks at the two dolls, "That being said, your attire is a little lacking. If you ever have the time, come seek me out and I can give you some tips."

M4 smiles, "Thank you for the offer, but right now we have to find our teammates."

"Ah, I understand. FNC and I were in the process of doing the same. Please, don't let me hold you up, I'm sure we can talk again at another time." After saying this, Fal turns around and heads off to see where FNC ran off to next.

After that conversation was over, they found that Sop-2 and RO had already found a table and were talking with some other dolls at it. The two made their way there and just as they approached them, the commander came up to the stand.

"Everyone, can I please have your attention." she said. All of the dolls in the room quieted down and took their seats. Once everyone was seated, the commander continued.

"I just wanted to start by saying just how proud I am of all of the hard work you've put in these last few days. It wasn't easy, but we managed to make this base operational in record time." Everyone clapped at this. "But before celebrations can begin, we are given a new assignment."

The monitors come to life, showing the battle that ensued not even a couple of days ago. What appears on screen is security footage of Echelon 5 fighting their way through the facility.

"As we all know, a T-Doll echelon was sent inside the facility during the initial assault and we have since lost contact with them. The last known images of them are of the team entering the portal before it closed. What lies on the other side is currently unknown, though it is safe to assume that there will be a high Sangvis presence in the area."

One of the dolls raises her hand. "How unknown are we talking?" she asks.

The commander looks at her, "The only information we have on the place is that the gravity is similar to Earth and that the place has forests like Earth. However take all of this with a grain of salt as all the data collected was from Sangvis recon teams."

Another doll raises her hand, "What do you mean by 'like Earth'?" she asks. "It almost sounds like you're implying that this place is another world."

The commander thought for a moment, trying to find a way to phase her answer. "As you all know, T-Dolls can upload tactical data directly to central command via satellite networks, no matter where in the world they are."

"Granted there isn't a Sangvis jammer blocking the signal." The doll remarks.

"Of course, Sangvis Ferri's units work in a similar manner from what we can assume. However from their reports, it mentions that all contact with the recon teams are lost once the portal closes. This implies that wherever they went, it was outside the range of satellite communications."

The other dolls in the room began to whisper to each other once they heard this information. The fact that they may be dealing with the possibility of this being an alien world sent an air of fear and uncertainty though the room.

"That being said," the commander started, "M4A1, can you please come to the front."

M4 began to make her way to the front. She could feel the eyes of the whole room watching her as she stood up front at attention.

"Since there will be a lack of connection to command, I will be putting M4A1 in charge of the operation until a reliable communication connection can be established, or until I make my way to the other side." The commander looked around the room, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Ma'am." everyone said.

The commander then directed M4 to take her seat back where she was

Another doll raised their hand, "What about Echelon 5?"

The room went silent. Everyone was thinking about it, but no one wanted to ask it. No one wanted to put the thought of what may have happened, or what is happening, to their friends trapped on the other side.

The commander sighed, "To put it bluntly, I don't know. I have faith that they are okay, and are doing well." The room remained silent. "That being said, your mission is to enter the portal and secure a foothold on the other side. Once that is completed, you are then to proceed to send out recon teams to scout the surrounding area. If you come across evidence of Echelon 5's whereabouts, then you are to report it and investigate."

The commander then put images on the monitors that looked like human build settlements. "In addition, we believe that there are human residents in the area, and as such command wishes you to make contact with them and establish friendly relations."

One doll raised her hand, "What if they don't want to be friends?"

The commander sighed, she knew that this question was going to pop up eventually, and she dreaded the answer. "If they prove, without a doubt, hostile to you or your fellow teammates, you have my permission to use lethal force against them."

It would be an understatement to say that a wave of shock went through the room. They have known that military units,as well as police units within the cities could be given that order, but they never thought that they would be given that order. Many of the smaller, more childlike dolls, and many who were converted civilian dolls, could never even imagine a situation where they may have to raise their weapon against a human. The fact that this order came from the commander, showed just how serious the situation was.

The commander seeing the faces of the dolls quickly clarified what she meant. "I want you to all understand, that this order should only go into effect if all attempts to deescalate the situation have failed. I also want you to all know that you do indeed have the right to defend yourselves if necessary."

Many of the dolls in the crowd began to calm down a little, but some still had a face of fear on them.

"If there are no more questions, then I want you all to get ready. You will be deploying in one hour. Dismissed." The commander walked down from the stage and began to make her exit. As she did, the dolls in the room began to make their exit as well, preparing for a mission they never expected to get.

* * *

09:53 Local time, Sector S05 temporary headquarters code-named "Charon"

The dolls of the First Recon Strike Force, as they are to be called, begin to assemble in front of the "Gateway Machine" as it's being called. Some dolls were nervous, others were excited, but everyone agreed, this was a world changing event. The opportunity to step foot on a brand new world, and experience everything it has to offer, it was truly a gift to them. Too bad it was Sangvis Ferri that made the first steps. Some of the older dolls knew that if Sangvis attacked any settlements on the other side, it would make their job to establish good relations that much harder.

But to the members of AR-Team, this was something else entirely. There was clear evidence that one of their members, believed to be dead, is still alive. What they want to know is how and why. This thought was eating away at M4, until something hit her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" M16 asked.

M4 nods her head, "Ya, I'm fine. Just a little nervous is all."

"I don't blame you, you've been given quite the task leading everyone until the commander can make her way over to the other side."

It felt like a massive weight has been put on M4's shoulders. 'Am I really to command so many?' she thought. 'Am I to guide all of these dolls out of whatever gets thrown at them?'

"Hey!" M16 bumped her shoulder again, "Don't go spacing out on me again."

"I'm sorry, I just..." she thought for a moment. "I just never commanded so many before. What if I mess up? What if I give them an order they don't follow? What if..." Before she could continue, she felt a slap come across her face. She looked to her side and saw that slap came from M16.

"Don't." she simply said. "Don't overthink the situation. Don't underestimate the resolve of those below you. Don't lose your composer in the heat of the moment." She then took M4's hand, "You are a natural born leader, who can command thousands if you were in that position. They will follow you." M16 then puts on a smile, "Besides, you're only in command until the commander moves over, so it's not like this is what you are going to do forever."

M4 thought about this for a minute, and she knew that M16 had a point. It's okay to be a little stressed, but it's another to completely overthink a situation. So M4 looked into M16's face, and smiled.

"Okay," she says, "I'll do it."

All of a sudden, a large slap on her back nearly knocked her over. "That's the spirit!" shouted M16. She then began to laugh, and M4 chuckled with her.

"5 minutes!" they heard someone shout.

"Well, that seems to be our cue." M16 said. "Time to get ready."

M4 nodded. She began to walk around to a circle of team leaders that formed to discuss the plan of attack. They all stopped talking when they saw M4 approach.

One of the dolls spoke, "So Miss M4, what's the plan?"

She thought about it for a moment before she spoke. "From what the files say about the area, the portal seems to be in the middle of a large grassy clearing within a forest, and it is possible that Sangvis forces may still be in the area. Our job is to quickly secure defensive positions within the grounds surrounding the portal and dig in for a possible counter attack. After we have declared the area clear of hostiles, we will begin sending recon units to scout the areas beyond to make contact with local human settlements. We have also been given the materials and blueprints to begin the process of building another gateway on the other side."

A doll in the group asks, "What about Echelon 5?"

M4 had to think of something. The chances of them still operational after all of this time is slim, but not impossible. Especially if they manage to get to one of the settlements. "If during our initial sweep of the combat area we don't find their remains, once we begin to send out recon teams they will be given orders to also search for any and all evidence of the missing team, and conduct a rescue attempt."

This answer seemed to satisfy the group.

"2 minutes!" the person shouted again.

"If there are no more questions, then I want you all to get your teams ready." They all nodded before walking in different directions.

The teams began to assemble, readying themselves for the coming fight. M4 can see that the rest of her team is together, along with their newest member. She walks up to them.

"Hey uh, RO is it?" M4 asks.

"Yes it is." she answers.

"I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I wasn't thinking straight at the time and I didn't mean to offend you."

RO smiled, "It's quite alright, no need to worry about me, I was just glad I got to finally meet you. But if it makes you feel better, your apology is accepted."

"60 seconds!" They shouted again.

As the person shouted this, all of the exit doors were covered by large metal sheeting, and all but the emergency lights were shut off. Next they heard the whirling of an engine start up, followed by several sparks coming off of the Gateway Machine. They then saw the sparks begin to arc from the top to the bottom. This arcing became so intense that it looked like a continuous stream of electricity was pouring down the middle. Then they saw the stream of electricity begin to split, and though that hole, they saw an open grassy landscape with a forest at the edge of it. The dolls readied their weapons, preparing for the word to rush forward. Once the portal stopped expanding, They heard the voice one last time.

"Green light! Go! Go! Go!"

On cue, all of the dolls on the strike team rushed forward, ready to face anything that was thrown their way.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So, on to the questions.**

**Game2002: ****I know what you mean. What I meant to say was that the crossover won't happen in the first chapter. I wanted to use the first chapter to establish how the connection to Remnant was made and who created it. I didn't mean to delay things longer than that, but thank you for the suggestion.**

**Student: ****Like I said, I don't know how long this is going to be. Now before you say anything, I do have a plan for where this is going and I have an ending in mind, the question is how many chapters until then. I understand the challenge I have presented myself with, and I accept that challenge. If it doesn't click right away that's fine, this is my first time writing a story and that's why I asked for criticism, so that I can improve and make better stories. Also about the monthly thing, that is less for the story and more for me. I want to write stories more often and the monthly thing is for me to get into a routine so I don't forget about my stories like other authors.**

**Zadred212: ****Okay understand something, all of the information that I have gathered for this story is from the official wiki, the confidential files, and Reddit posts when I have specific questions. After I read your post, I went back to see if I got something wrong and reread all related information. From what I read, you are right and that saying the world's militaries were in shambles was wrong, however this statement is not without merit. In the files, it says that the military was unwilling or unable to help people living in the yellow and red contamination zones, which lead to the rise of PMC's like Griffin. In addition the fact that the world is a state of post-apocalypse and there was a third world war, it was safe to assume that the militaries were at least in a state of reorganization for a time. Also about the gun thing, I will admit, that may have been a bit of an oversight on my part. Sorry for that.**

**D.O.F: ****As I said before, I don't know how many chapters I'm going to make this. I kind of have a thing were I begin to type up a scene (I type this up in Google docs so I can keep track of it better) and before I know it, I'm 15 pages and 4,000 words in and I'm only half way done. I had an entire fight scene typed up and I just had to cut it out due to it being so long. So to answer your question, I did plan this to be on the shorter side, I just typed it up in novel length. Also about Yegor and Carter, the most you'll see of them right now is maybe a cameo appearance. Beyond that I don't have any plans for them in the story thus far.**

**Thank you all so much for your support, I really appreciate it. I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	3. New Players Have Entered the Game

**A.N.: **

**So, do to the Corona Virus, a lot of places where I live have shut down. This includes the college I go to and my work. As a result, I seem to have found quite a bit of free time to work on this story (between completing online assignments). In that time, I've completed this chapter and started working on the next one. I just wanted to update you all on why this is coming out so early, and to let you all know that once life gets back to normal here, I will be returning to that once a month update I said I would do.**

**Also, thank you again for all of your feed back and support, I really do appreciate it.**

**Lastly, I got a few questions from you guys about the size of Sangvis ferri forces on Remnent. I do go into the numbers later on in the chapter but all I will say is force was a little larger than I made it sound like in the last chapter. Sorry for that, I plan to do better for the future.**

**With that out of the way, Lets begin.**

**I do not own anything here. Girls Frontline is a product of Mica Team and RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

1:34 pm Local time, Atlasian supply outpost code-named "Pax Sanus"

Gager walked the perimeter of the base. She saw several of those dark creatures come close to the walls, but they seem to be keeping their distance for now. The last couple of days were stressful for everyone, but at least she can now 'take a breather' as humans would say. Though much of the base was captured intact, there still was a real possibility that these 'Atlasians' would come to investigate why one of their bases is not responding to calls. Although the records do say that the nearby mountain range interrupts signals from time to time, a complete blackout would look suspicious to them.

All of a sudden her train of thought was interrupted by a whistling noise flying overhead, ending in a large explosion near the aircraft crash site. She gritted her teeth. Gager jumped down from the wall she was patrolling and made her way across the landing tarmac. She passed by the VTOL aircraft that they managed to capture and made her way inside. She walked through the base passing by their automatons working to make this place more suitable for them. As she walked down the halls, another ringleader seemed to have joined her in her walk.

"You seem to be going somewhere in a hurry." she said.

"Not now Alchemist." Gager said.

"Let me guess, Architect again?" she asked. Gager continued on her walk. "Well just don't scrap her, you know what Agent has ordered us to do."

"I know." she answers "That being said, aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?"

"I was on my way when I saw you and I just wanted to talk for a moment. But if you're going to be like that, then I'll just be on my way." Alchemist shrugged her shoulders as she said this. After that she continued on about her day.

Gager continued on to confront the Architect about her behavior, especially after what it took to take this place.

* * *

12 hours earlier

Randy and Don were your typical soldiers, they did what they were told and got the job done. Now the two of them were with a group on night patrol on top of the base's walls, keeping watch for any Grimm that may poke its head too close. Though the base's automated defenses could quickly target and eliminate anything without trouble, it was still good to have a few guards posted in case something went wrong. The night was going quite well, nothing really happened so the two started to play cards with the others to pass the time. Everyone started to talk about different stories they've heard recently.

"I heard of this huntsman that took on a den of beowolves and came out of it without a scratch." Don said.

Randy waved him off, "I got one better. Huntsman goes out to do a job near Patch, he heard there was a Grimm problem. Went into the forest, when he came back out, he had a host of wounds on himself. He claimed that he had taken on a giest all by himself, and won."

Another soldier sitting just off to the side, listening to their conversation, spoke up. "Please, I got you both beat." He sat down next to them. "So, this comes from one of the academies. You guys know that the school year started a couple of months ago right?" They nodded. "So, the kids were going through their initiation right, one one of them goes off on their own. Well, this kid later finds himself in a fight with two King Taijitus, and wins."

One of the soldiers rolls his eyes, "You're making this up. A student, no. Even if he had the skills to get into one of the academies, the kid would have just been gobbled up in a matter of seconds."

"No, listen." he says, "So, he finds himself in this fight and part way through he loses his weapons. Now, according to the story, the student got up and proceeded to kill the Grimm with his bare hands."

Don shook his head, "Okay, I was willing to believe you, up until you said that."

He puts his hands in the air, "Come on! I'm telling the truth you guys. He broke off the fangs of one and used it to kill the other."

They all proceed to start laughing, trying to make the most out of the boring night. Although with all the high spirits, there was still one member of the watch looking out at the surrounding trees. Once everyone settled down, one of them turned to the lookout.

"Hey buddy, do you have any stories to tell?" he asked.

The lookout, still watching the forest through his binoculars, answered. "No, because unlike you, I want to make sure that there isn't an army of Grimm waiting to tear down our walls."

"Come on Ferrous," one of the soldiers said, "don't be such a downer. We haven't seen any Grimm in a couple of days now, just relax."

Ferrous sighed, "Firstly, we have seen Grimm in the last couple of days, they were just smart enough to not come near the base. Secondly, just because things are quiet now, doesn't mean they're going to stay like that."

"Which is why we should enjoy this moment of relief while we still can." Randy said. "I mean, it's not that often that we can have a few days in a row without the Grimm making at least some kind of charge at the walls."

Ferrous looked over to him, "And that's why I'm keeping a lookout, to make sure they don't charge at us while all of you are just sitting here telling your stories." He goes back to looking out at the treeline. "Oh, and one more thing. That story about that student Grimm wrestler, fake news." He felt a water bottle hit his shoulder, as if it was thrown halfheartedly. After that, everyone else began to laugh.

As the laughter settled down, one of them perked up.

"Hey, you guys hear that?" he asked.

Randy shook his head, "It's just the wind, pay it no mind."

"No." Ferrous said, "I think I hear it too."

The others quieted down and began to listen carefully. At first, they could only hear the sounds of the surrounding land. The wind blowing, the rustle of the trees, the occasional words of far off workers on the tarmac or other such soldiers on the walls. But as they listened, they could hear what sounded like the motor of an engine coming from the direction of the forest. They all got up and began to scan the area, looking for whatever could be making that noise.

One of them pointed their fingers out towards the incoming road. "There, on the road. It looks like headlights."

Ferrous turned his gaze in the direction where he was pointing. He could see a set of lights coming at high speeds towards the base. As the lights got closer, he could see that it was a dust transport truck.

"What is it?" Don asked.

"Looks like a dust transport vehicle." Ferrous said, "It seems to have some kind of damage on the side." As he watched the truck get closer, he could see something else. "And it's being tailed by a pack of Grimm."

The others on watch sprang up from where they were standing and readied their weapons. They watched as the truck got closer, other groups on the wall began to take notice of the incoming vehicle. Then they heard someone shouting.

"Open the gate!" a feminine voice said, "For the love of God, open the gate!"

Don then began shouting himself. "Open the gates! We have people in danger out there! Everyone else, covering fire!"

As he said this, the guards on the walls opened up on the pursuing Grimm. The precise fire of the soldiers made quick work of the Grimm, consisting nothing more than beowolves and creeps. The alarm of the front gate began to blare as the large metal doors began to slowly creep open. The truck moved faster until it flew through the doors and onto the grounds of the base, stopping with a hard screech of the tires. After this, they began to close the gates and pick off any stragglers as well as any Grimm that strayed too close. As the dust settled, and the Grimm expelled from the area, the group took a breather. As they were doing this, they can see Ferrous making his way to the ladder on the side of the wall.

"Hey," Randy said "Where do you think you're going?"

As Ferrous got on the ladder, he looked up. "To take a look at the people we just saved. Make sure they're okay."

Don rolled his eyes, "Alright fine, but as soon as you're done there you come right back. Understood?"

Ferrous gave him a nod before continuing down the ladder. Once he got to the bottom, he made his way over to the vehicle. As he got closer, he could see several other personal walking over to also investigate. Then the front door of the truck opened and a woman made her way out. She has short black hair and pale complexion, and the clothes she is wearing appear to be ripped and torn in some places. Ferrous approaches her.

"Miss, are you okay?" he asks her.

She gives him a smile and responds, "I am now, yes." She looked into his eyes and he looked into her pale blue eyes. However as he does, he gets a sense of unease, almost like this is something he shouldn't do, like something in the back of his mind is telling him to turn away. Instead of looking away, he continues to look deeper, almost compelled to find out what is wrong with her smile.

"Are you okay?" she asks. Ferrous is broken out of his semi-trace state to see a look of concern on her face.

He rubs his face as he answers, "Yes I'm fine, just coming off the adrenaline rush from earlier I guess."

Her smile returns, "That's good to hear." The moment was then interrupted by what sounds like moaning coming from the back. "Oh right, um, can you please help me?" she asks, turning to move towards the back of the truck. Following her, he can see other people making their way to the vehicle to investigate as well.

"What do you need?" As he asks this, the doors on the back open up to reveal several other people in the back, all of whom appear to be female as well. They had either black or whitish, silver hair, and wore similarly tattered clothing. On the floor of the truck, he could see that one of the women was tending to another laying on a makeshift stretcher, with what looked to be an oxygen mask over her face. He could see another sitting on a bench inside wearing blooded bandages over her right eye.

He turned and shouted out to everyone who could hear. "Medic! We need a medic down here!"

Several others began to rush about, in a hurry to fill the request. After a few minutes, a group of doctors rushed around to the back of the truck. They began to help the injured make their way to the base's medical bay. As they were moved away, Ferrous could see the commanding officer, as well as several others, making their way towards them. He stood at attention, saluting the incoming officer.

"What happened here?" he asked. "Why was the gate opened at this time of night?"

"Sir, this group of individuals were being chased by a pack of Grimm and required assistance. We opened the gate to allow them in for safety, Sir."

The officer turns towards the remaining women standing in front of him. "And who might you be?"

The one wearing a bandage around her left arm spoke. "We came from the nearby town St. Vith. The town was attacked by bandits and we just barely made it here alive. Please you have to help them, if you don't, they'll all die."

The commander turns towards one of his escorts. "I want several squads ready to depart in 20 minutes. Have them take several dropships loaded with Knights with them."

The man salutes him. "Yes Sir." he says before turning and rushing back towards the main base.

He turns back to the women standing in front of him, "May I ask what your names are?"

The lady beside Ferrous begins to speak. "My name is Indigo. The one who was on the stretcher was Sandy." She turns towards the rest of the group, "The one on the far left is Gloria, the one with the eye wrapping is Allison, and the last one is Helena."

The commander nods, "Nice to meet all of you. Now, can you tell me exactly what happened? The full story I mean."

Indigo nods her head, "Of course, but can we do it inside? Some of us are a little afraid of being out in the open right now."

"Anything to help ease your minds." He extends his hand out, "Please, follow me."

The group leaves with the commander and his escort back to the main base. Ferrous watches them make their way across the tarmac before he makes his way back to his comrades. As he heads back, he can't help but have a sense of unease about those women. He didn't know what it was, but something about them seemed off. He makes his way up the ladder and is waiting to be bombarded by loads of questions.

"So, what's going on?" Don asked.

"The truck was full of women that came from the town of St. Vith." he said. "Apparently the town was attacked by a group of bandits. They were sent to go get help."

One of the soldiers asked another question. "Isn't that town on the other side of the mountains? Why didn't they just call us? It would have been quicker than making the trip here."

Ferrous shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, maybe their relay tower was damaged in the attack or something. They never said. The commander is sending some squads out to investigate." He began to think for a moment.

"What were the ladies like?" one of the soldiers asked.

"They were pretty but, I don't know. Something just feels off about them." he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Randy.

"They all seemed normal. A little shaken up, but still normal." He put his hand on his face. "It's just, the one didn't seem right is all."

"Didn't seem right?"

"She seemed normal enough, but when I looked into her eyes, I felt uneasy."

"What, like you saw something in her eyes?" one of the others asked.

"No." Ferrous said. "It was almost like…" he paused. "Like behind her smile, I was staring at nothing at all. Like it just an empty void."

Don put his hand on Ferrous' shoulder. "Listen, you've been staring out at the forest for too long." He checks his watch, "It's also late, you should head back to the barracks and get some rest." He turns to the others. "We should all get some rest. Randy and I will keep watch until our relief comes, the rest of you should head back with Ferrous and get some rest too." The others gave a quiet nod before gathering up their equipment.

"Will you be alright here?" Ferrous asked.

"Don't worry, it's not the first time Randy and I pulled a two man night watch. Just head back to your bunk."

Ferrous nodded. "Okay, thank you."

"No problem, just be up and moving in a few hours." He said. After this, the men made their way down the ladder and began to walk back to the barracks.

* * *

The doors to the main base opened up to reveal the sterile looking nature of these 'Atlesians'. Pure white hallways with the occasional camera dotted here and there. They also saw several groups of automated drones walking the halls. They remind her of the Gen 1 dolls back home in a way, but far less intelligent.

Intruder worked hard on this plan, and it seemed to be working without a hitch. Some stolen clothing, a little sobbing, even that truck Dreamer stole came in handy. The story also came in handy, Scarecrow in their med bay, and the rest being led by the base's commander into the base itself, the plan was working like a charm. Intruder always wanted to test out her acting skills, but with Griffin knowing who she was, she never got the chance. 'What was the phase?' she thought, 'The world is but a stage.' Once she was confident that enough time had passed, she activated their little friend.

At the truck, a small degenerate made its way out from under the vehicle. The poor thing had been hanging on for dear life as the truck rushed through the forest and onto the base. After some time, it got the signal to begin its job. The little thing begins making its way across the tarmac, making sure to stay in the shadows and out of sight as much as possible. After some time, and a little maneuvering, it made it to an access terminal just outside of the hanger.

It moves to the wiring connected to the terminal and begins to cut it open. Once completed, it extends a connection cable from underneath it and taps into the base's security.

Meanwhile on a nearby cliff overlooking the base, Dreamer watched over as the collection of data began to stream towards her. Within a matter of seconds, she had access to the base's camera and electrical systems.

"What's the situation?" she heard a voice behind her say.

Dreamer smirked, "Well, I have access to the base's camera systems and I can shut down their electrical systems whenever I want. However I can't get access to any other systems until I get some kind of access codes from an officer."

Agent crosses her arms. "You can't?"

"Well I can, it would just be easier if I had the codes." Dreamer said. "Their cyber security is crap, the real issue lies in understanding their interface. But the good news is, we are making progress."

"After the transports leave the base, shut off the power going to their communications and lighting. I want this to be discreet."

"Understood." she said with a smile on her face.

Back inside the base, the group continues down the hallway until they reach a room. The room itself was moderately sized and looks to be designed as some form of temporary housing for humans. Several rows of bunk beds with bedding and blankets lay on top of them, as well as a footlocker on either end. On the far end of the room, past all of the bunks, lay a wooden table with chairs along with a couple of couches and a large television monitor.

Intruder turns towards the commander, "I wanted to thank you for everything that you're doing to help us." She said with a smile.

The commander smiles back, "Of course, It is the duty of a soldier to help those in need. I just hope that these accommodations will be suitable to you and your friends."

"Yes, this place will do nicely."

"Well I'm happy to hear that." After saying this, the commander gets a notification on his scroll. "Ah, well it looks like you won't have to worry about your fellow townsfolk either, I just received word that the task force is on their way as we speak."

"I have a question." Intruder said, "Would you mind if I gave you a hug as a token of my appreciation?"

The commander smiled, "Not at all." He opened his arms. "Please by all means."

Intruder moved in close to embrace the commander, but just as the moment began, the lights shut off. After a few seconds, the room was filled with red lights as the emergency lighting turned on. For a moment, the commander looked around in confusion, that was until a blade was shoved into his throat.

On the cliff side, Dreamer began to watch the plan unfold. "Power is off, Intruder made her move, and whoa…" she had a look of surprise on her face.

"Something wrong?" Agent asked.

"No, just marveling at the mess Scarecrow made down in the med bay. Those doctors really didn't know what they were doing, how sad." A notice just popped up on Dreamers interface. "Oh, thank you Intruder. We now have the access codes and…" a few seconds pass. "There we go, we now have full access to every system on the base."

"What is the status of the others?"

"Lets see here." Dreamer began to scroll through the camera feeds. "Alchemist and Gager are making their way to the barracks, Hunter is on her way to the commander center, Scarecrow looks to be on her way to communications and Intruder looks to be on her way to have some fun."

"Tell the others to commence phase 2 of the plan."

"Already on it." Dreamer says.

On the wall, Don and Randy continue to watch the forest. Nothing really has happened since the transport craft left a couple of minutes ago. All seemed quiet.

"Hey Don." He looked up to see Randy standing over him. "I'm going to go take a leak. Watch things for me while I'm gone?"

"Sure thing buddy." Don said as he slumped back into his chair.

Randy heads off to the lavatory to do his business. There were a few outhouse stations on the wall for such times, 'to improve soldier effectiveness' or something like that. At the very least it gives him a sense of privacy for a moment. After he was done, Randy headed back to his station, only to find the Don was missing.

"Don." he said looking around. He raised his weapon, "Don this isn't funny, where are you at?"

"I'm over here." Randy heard him say. "I heard a noise and was checking it out."

Randy lowered his weapon and walked towards the source of the call. "Oh really, what did hear, a ghost?" As he walked closer, he saw something drip to the floor. When he looked down he saw a pool of what looked to be blood. He looked up to see where the source was and saw his friend Don, hanging upside down with his throat sliced open. After that he heard Don's voice once again.

"I guess you could say that." However as the sentence was being said, Don's voice began to distort and change, until by the end, it was of a woman talking. Randy saw in front of him a woman with long black hair and a large mechanical arm that gripped a massive sword. Before he could do anything, the sword was plunged into his chest.

Ferrous was laying in his bunk, getting some rest. It had been a long night, but he was glad to get some sleep. That was until he heard someone at another bunk start to gag. It sounded like he was really sick because he heard the blankets move violently. He thought nothing of it, until he heard someone closer to him also suffer the same thing, then another. He started to think that everyone may have had some bad food from dinner and just now experiencing the effects.

After he heard the next one, Ferrous got out of bed to investigate. He began to walk through the rows of bunks to find where the source of the noise was. As he passed by one of the bunks, he could see one of the soldiers covering their heads, and what looked to be a large dark stain on their blankets.

Ferrous moved in closer to see what happened. "Hey, are you okay?" As he lifted up the blanket, he could see what looked to be the face of a dead man. He quickly removed the sheets from the soldier, only to find a large gash into his abdomen made by a large blade. He covered his mouth and fell backwards, then began to push himself away from the body as quickly as possible. That was until he ran into the legs of someone standing behind him. When he looked up, he saw the face of one of the women from the truck. She had a wild look on her face and held in her hand a large, double pointed blade.

"Good morning sleepy head." That was the last thing he heard, before her blade entered his body.

The air squadrons were on their way to the town of St. Vith. there was word that the town was under attack by bandits and they're being sent there to investigate. They were on the other side of the mountains when they got a call from base.

"Strike 1 do you copy? Over." a voice over the radio said.

The pilot in the leading dropship responded, "This is Strike 1, go for message."

"Strike 1, the commander wants everyone back at base. Says that the area is too dangerous to deploy at night. Over."

"Base, tell the commander that we have word of possible people under attack nearby and we are responding accordingly. Over."

There was silence over the radio for a moment. "Sorry Strike 1, not my orders, this comes from the commander himself."

The pilot cursed under his breath. He let out a sigh before answering, "Alright, heading back to base. We'll be arriving within 10 minutes." They turned their aircraft around and began to head back to base. As they approached the base, they radioed their arrival. "Base, this is Strike 1. Requesting permission to land. Over."

The radio responded, "Strike 1, you are clear to land."

As they got closer, they could see that the base's anti-air defenses were still tracking them. "Base, this is Strike 1, why are the guns still tracking us?"

"Sorry Strike 1, just a little glitch in the system. We had to do a hard reboot, give us a minute to fix the problem. You should have nothing to worry about."

The next thing the pilot knew, his systems were telling him that the aircraft was being targeted by the air defenses. "Base this is Strike 1, my system says that we are currently being targeted. This is a friendly air transport coming back from mission. Over."

"Negative Strike 1, everything appears to be good here, maybe it's a malfunction on your end?"

Before he could respond to the question, the base's air defenses opened up and began to shoot at the transports. The pilots began evasive maneuvers, trying to avoid the incoming fire. However it was unsuccessful as one by one they were shot down, and became nothing more than heaps of twisted metal on the ground.

* * *

Present

After all the hard work they put into capturing this base, one would think that they would do whatever they can to avoid unnecessary attention. Of course, most aren't Architect. Gager made her way towards Architect as she fired another rocket at the wreckage outside the base.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gager asked in a demanding tone.

A doll with black hair tied in a long ponytail off to the side lifted her weapon up as she turned. Architect looked over to her with her magenta colored eyes and smiled, "Just doing a little target practice is all."

"You know, we have been ordered to keep a low profile for the moment. So why are you defying those orders?"

Architect raised her hands. "I'm sorry, I just thought that you would be happy to know that I was taking to improving my skills. If I would have known it would make you this mad, I wouldn't have done it."

Gager gritted her teeth. 'Out of all of the times she chose to listen to my advice…' she thought. This was interrupted by a call from Agent.

"All ringleaders, please report to the war room for debriefing."

Gager sighed, "Come on, the boss wants to talk with us."

Architect gave a salute, "On my way." She then began to follow Gager to the war room.

After a few minutes of walking, they entered a large room full of monitors. Everyone was sitting down at a large holographic projection table, waiting to hear what their next move is. After Gager and Architect arrived, Agent spoke.

"Good, now that everyone is here, we can begin." The two of them took their seats. "Now after running the numbers, I can confirm that…" She brings up a chart showing their total strength. "After our trip here, the loss of units to the 'Grimm' as these people call them, the attack on the human settlement, and the forces needed to clean up the base and the area surrounding it…" she inputs the information into the program. "Our current operating capacity has been reduced to 45% efficiency."

The other ringleaders looked at each other.

Agent continued, "We are currently rebuilding our forces using the resources at this base and the surrounding area. However I don't expect any notable results for at least a week." Agent looks around at the others. "That being said, I want to continue to keep a low profile until sufficient numbers are made." She looks over to Dreamer who seems to be bored of the conversation. "Dreamer, something appears to be on your mind."

Dreamer looks over to Agent, "I don't see the point." she says.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't see the point in doing that. We've cut all communications in the area, we have control over the area's strongest base. Why not just destroy whoever is left and take what we need from them? Why all of this hiding?" Dreamer asks.

Agent puts on a face of anger, "Because, unlike before, we don't have the endless units to throw at our enemies."

"Not yet at least."

"Which is why we need to remain hidden until our numbers are replenished."

"Silence, both of you." a voice demands. The ringleaders looked over to the edge of the table and saw their mastermind with her hand up. "I will not allow bickering in this room."

Agent bows, "I'm sorry master."

"I wish nothing more than what you desire Dreamer, but Agent is right. Right now we need to prioritize our survival above all else, and that means keeping our actions quiet and out of the light of the world. At least for the moment." As she finishes what she is saying, she opens a holo screen of an aerial photo of a clearing in the middle of a forest. "Especially now that our adversaries have followed us here."

* * *

1000 hours Mission time, Location: The other side of the portal, Area Designation: "S10"

The light of the sun blinded the dolls of First Recon for a moment, going from dark room to the sunny outdoors would do that. Once their eyes adjusted to the light, they saw a large forest all around them with green luscious trees, seemingly untouched by humankind. It was an absolutely beautiful place, but unfortunately they didn't have much time to enjoy it. The dolls began to spread out to make room for the other echelons still coming from the other side. They started to drop and unload the equipment that they brought over: shovels to dig foxholes and trench works, tents to set up temporary places to sleep, and extra supplies of rations and ammunition.

As the dolls fanned out, some of them began to find areas where they can sit down and enjoy the moment, while others took shovels with them and started digging their foxhole.

M4 looked out at the forest, the wind gently blowing on her. If it wasn't for the fact that she was told that settlements were in the area, she would have believed that this place was completely untouched by humans; that the dolls were the first ones here to enjoy this place.

"Enjoying the view?" a voice said.

M4 quickly turned her head to the side to see M16 standing next to her. "In a way, yes." she answered. "Everything here seems like the home we just left."

"I know what you mean." M16 said. "If I was woken up here one day, not knowing how I got here, and you told me that we were in Europe or America, I would believe you." M16 paused a moment while she looked around, "It's scary just how similar this place is to back home."

"Lets just hope it's not too similar." M4 said.

"Let's hope not." M16 knew exactly what she meant by that last statement.

Just then the two heard a scream and a burst of gunfire coming from their left. They rushed over to see what may have happened. M4 and M16 could see a group of dolls near the treeline almost huddled together in fear.

M4 rushed to their aid, "What happened?" she asks.

One of the dolls points into the forest, "There's a scary monster in there."

M4 looked confused, "A monster?"

One of the dolls confronting her speaks up, "She said she saw something in the woods watching her. I think it was just a wolf that startled her."

They nodded, "It growled at me. So I shot at it out of fear and ran into the forest."

M4, M16, and a couple of braver T-Dolls, moved into the forest to investigate. After about a 30 second walk, they started to hear a low growl coming from behind a tree nearby. They raised their weapons, ready to engage the target if it pounced. The wolf was peering out from behind the tree, watching their every move; it looked to have jet black fur with a white face. When the group finally got a good look at the creature, a look of shock came across their faces.

This was no wolf they have ever seen before; the fur on its body was completely black, only offset by white patches on its face, legs, and chest. However the white spots didn't look like fur at all, but instead they looked like exposed bones, almost resembling the animal kingdom's version of armor plating. After a time which felt like forever, the creature let out a howl that lasted for several seconds. Once this was completed, the group could hear more growling coming from all sides. They began to back away from the animals slowly.

Near the treeline, the others waited for word from the group who entered. They heard a howl from inside the forest but nothing else so far. Then they heard gunfire ring out, and shouting. After about 10 seconds, the group came rushing into view, running like mad dolls.

"Defensive positions!" they heard M4 shout. "Hostiles inbound!"

Behind them, the dolls could see a wave of creatures pursuing them. The dolls stood there in shock, unsure what to do. After a moment of this, the dolls began to scramble to set up a defensive line to combat the incoming threat.

The group ran closer to the makeshift line being set up. They could hear shots from rifles going off, covering them by picking off any creature that gets to close. Once they got to the line, the group laid down on the ground and reloaded their weapons.

"Open fire!" M4 shouted.

Once the order was given, every T-Doll on the line opened up. The bullets from their gun cutting down the beasts like butter. They managed to keep them at bay, until they needed to reload; after which the wave of beast made it closer to their line. First they were 20 meters away, then 15 meters, then 10. The dolls used whatever they had on hand to keep the hoard at bay: grenades, launches, flashbangs; anything they had on hand, they used. Though the creatures got closer, their line still held.

Then several dolls began to see new beasts coming in. Instead of the wolf creatures, they looked more like wild boars, but with the same black fur and bone like plates. The boars stood for a second before rolling into a ball and spinning violently. Then, the beasts charged forward.

"Take cover!" one of the dolls shouted.

The boars slammed into their lines with great force. Some dolls were knocked out of their firing position, and now had to engage in close quarters combat with the beasts. The dolls fired wildly at them, only to have their rounds bounce off its armor plates. The boar swung its head upwards attempting to impale one of the dolls on its tusks, but the dolls ducked and weaved out of the monster's way. After some maneuvers, Mac-10 managed to tip the boar over on its back, to reveal its unarmored belly. She fired a quick burst into the exposed area causing the creature to meet its death.

Mac-10 looked around, "Flip it on its back!" she shouted, "The belly is unarmored!"

Several other dolls fighting the boars heard Mac-10 and followed her advice. One by one, the beasts behind their line were eliminated. Once they were dealt with, the dolls turned their attention back towards the hoard coming for them. They could see that the beast's numbers were dwindling rapidly, and they figured that this would be over soon. Once their numbers reached a low, the creatures began to retreat back into the forest. Eventually, the last of them retreated, allowing the dolls a moment of respite.

This was short lived however, when they heard the roar of something massive coming their way. As it got closer, they could feel that the ground under them began to shake. The dolls reloaded their weapons and checked their ammo, readying themselves for what was coming.

With a loud crash, the trees parted ways, revealing a giant scorpion the size of a building. Its black skin was covered in the same white armor along its body and on its massive pincer claws. Towering over the creature, was a massive tail that was twice as tall as the creature with a large golden stinger at the end of it.

The dolls watched in horror as this creature stood there, waiting in anticipation for this thing to make its move. Then, the beast began to charge forward. The dolls reacted with unloading as much as they could, but the massive beast seemed to only shrug it off as it continued to increase its pace. Eventually, the dolls in the forward line were forced to retreat to avoid being stomped on; though several dolls were not quick enough and thrown into the air like they were nothing to it. They ran as fast as they could, all the while dolls in the back line continued to fire at it in an attempt to slow it down.

When the creature got close enough, several dolls threw whatever flashbangs they had left at the creature. The blasts of light seemed to disorientate it, causing the creature to hold fast and regain its bearings.

"How do we stop that thing?" asked M4. Just as she asked this question, she heard a wild scream coming from behind her. She turned back to see Sop 2 rushing towards the creature with reckless abandon.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" she shouted, running headfirst towards the disoriented beast.

The scorpion regained its composure and made a slash with its claws at the approaching doll. Sop 2 slid out of the way of its attack continuing forward, then jumping onto the creature's head. The beast flung itself violently trying to remove the unwanted guest off of it. Sop 2 dug her hand between its armor plates, using them as a handle to hold on. As the creature thrashed about, the armor plate she was holding onto began to slowly rip off the creature's body. When enough of a gap was created, the doll positioned her rifle between the plates and fired. This action greatly angered the beast as it thrashed about even more violently. After Sop 2 emptied her magazine into the beast, she pulled out a grenade and with a single motion, slammed it into the hole she created. Sop 2 then let go of the plate, letting herself fly off the creature; after that, an explosion came out from the creature, a large hole where part of its head used to be. It thrashed around for a moment, its motions slowing down with every move, until it collapsed on the ground, dead.

The others just stood there in disbelief, a defining silence washed over the area. Only the sound of the wind blowing could be heard. Then, M4 began to run.

"Sop 2!" she shouted as she ran. "SopMod 2!" she looked around, frantically searching for her friend. "SopMod 2, where are you!?"

"I'm over here." M4 turns to her right to see Sop 2 limping towards her. "Could you please stop shouting my name?"

M4 rushes over to her, "How could you do something so reckless?" she asked in an angered tone. "Do you have any idea what kind of danger you were in? You could have been killed!"

Sop 2 looks at M4 in confusion. She had never seen her like this before. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"You just what? Rush headfirst into a giant scorpion without even thinking."

"I just.." but before she could finish, M4 hugged her as hard as she could.

"Please," she said with a tear in her eye. "Don't do something like that again. I can't lose anyone else."

Sop 2 stands there for a moment, before returning a hug back.

After a good 10 seconds, they heard someone clear their throat. The two of them turned their heads to see a large group of dolls standing around watching them.

"I don't mean to interrupt this touching moment," one of them said. "But we are on a bit of a schedule right now."

M4 and SopMod 2 released each other and turned towards the group.

"Right." M4 says, "Firstly, I want a casualty and damage report to me within an hour. Secondly, I want us to start building defensive lines to prepare for those creatures in case they come back. Lastly, I want echelons to start conducting patrols along and into the forest. Any question?"

"What do we do about the creatures?" one of them asked.

M4 thought about it, "Lets see if you can get some samples to send back for analysis, then clean up the bodies."

"I think that may be a problem." the doll points out at the field in which the battle had taken place. Everyone saw as the bodies of the creatures slowly began to evaporate away, Within a minute, the only evidence that anything attacked them were the scars of battle in the ground.

M4 looked at the sight in bewilderment. "Well, this is new." She turns back around to talk to the dolls. "Anything else?"

The others shook their heads, "Then I want this all done by sundown. Dismissed."

* * *

**A.N.:**

**Well, another one done. Like I said above I'm working on the next chapter as you read this. Now on to the responses.**

**The True Skull: No that is my fault I should have been more clear on the size of their forces. What I tried to imply in the last chapter was that the force that attacked the town was one of Sangvis' flanks. To help give you the right picture, let me give you an example. If you ever watched Attack on Titan, there was a scene that described how the scouts conduct their operations outside of the wall. A large force in the middle, and two smaller forces on the sides to protect the flanks. Sangvis did the same thing, Agent in charge of the middle and Dreamer in charge of one of the flanks. Also yes, the Grimm would attack Sangvis units, and Sangvis knows this because of the recon teams they sent there, which is why Agent was annoyed at Dreamer for wasting so much time attacking the town. I hope this helps explains things a little better, and I will work on putting those details in the story for the future.**

**ItzABlueWulf: I'm very much keeping that in mind. While I write these chapters, I have several tabs open on the GF Wiki that go into full detail about each doll's personality and quotes, it helps a lot. There are so many times where I'm reading the story over and I sit there going, "Am I using this word too much? Should I change it to something else?" As for the story itself, don't worry too much. I have most of the major events in the story planned out already the thing I have is, "How much detail should I go in for this chapter?" making it end up to be 10,000 words long. Lastly, like I said in the previous response, it was my fault for not making things clear before. While I would agree with you that the size of their forces are part of their strength, where they excel in is their ability to out-think and out-strategize their opponents. There were multiple times in the game that the a ringleader admitted that they were just a decoy, or that Griffin was too late; that is what I believe makes them so interesting. But thank you again for the comment.**

**Guest: Rement is such a lovely place to live.**

**One last thing: for the future, do you want me to keep track of the number of days that have passed from now on? If I do, then it would be something like "Day 5, City of Vale" or something like that. I wanted to start putting in dates but I'm afraid if I do something more specific than that, people are going to yell at me that I got the date wrong.**

**Thank you all for your support, I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	4. An Unexpected Discovery

**A.N.**

**Hello everyone, Sorry if this update is a little late but I had a few things that I needed to get done. In addition this chapter was a lot harder to write than I first anticipated. I tried to do as much as I can in this chapter but there were a few spots that I deleted and had to do a complete rewrite because I was unhappy with the scene. ****But either way I finally finished this up and I hope you all enjoy it.**

**And sorry if it's on the shorter side.**

**I do not own anything here. Girl's Frontline is a product of Mica Team and RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Day 3, 12:10 pm Local time, Beacon Academy, The City of Vale

Professor Ozpin Stood by the window of his office, looking out at the arrival of several Atlesian airships. He had seen many come and go the last week or two as this was the time of the year that many of the exchange students from the other kingdoms enter the academy. Though this was a special time as this year, Vale would be hosting the Vital Festival, bringing in an influx of additional students who will be participating in the games; the most recent to arrive are those from Atlas; and the number of ships also indicates that a special guest has arrived.

"General Ironwood certainly loves to bring his work wherever he travels." Ozpin heard next to him. The voice came from his long time assistant Glinda Goodwitch, who helps run some of the teaching and staffing at Beacon. He could see that she was not in the best of moods, her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"Well," Ozpin said, "being in charge of Atlas Academy and the military makes him a busy man." he sighs "But yes, those are a bit of an eye sore."

After saying this, a little notification comes on Ozpin's desk letting him know that there was someone at his office door. Ozpin tells whoever was at the door to come in. Both Oz and Goodwitch turned, they saw a neat and tidy man in a military uniform, making his way towards the two.

"Ozpin," the man says.

Ozpin stood up straight as he addressed his guest. "General."

Ironwood gave a friendly chuckle, "Please, there is no need for such formalities." He raises his hand to shake Ozpin's, "It's been too long." Ozpin accepts the offer and shakes the hand of his friend. He turns to Professor Goodwitch, "Ah Glinda, it has certainly been too long as well."

Glinda approaches the general and waves her hand, "Oh James," she turns to Ozpin, "I'll be outside." He could hear a tone of annoyance in her voice as she proceeded to exit the room.

Ironwood watches her leave, "Well, she hasn't changed one bit."

Ozpin moved towards his desk and began to pour a cup of coffee. "So, what brings you to this corner of the world?" he asks, "It's not like a headmaster to travel with their students to the Vital Festival." Ozpin offers a cup to the general.

Ironwood accepts the cup, "Well, you know I love Vale this time of year; and with you hosting, I thought that I could take the time to catch up on how you're doing."

Ozpin sits at his desk, "While I can certainly enjoy quality time between friends, the small fleet outside has me somewhat concerned."

"Well," Ironwood starts, "concern is what brought me here."

"I understand that travel between kingdoms has been increasingly difficult these days, but I assure you…" Ozpin says before Ironwood cuts in.

"Oz, you and I both know why I brought those men."

Ozpin sighs, "We are in a time of peace. Shows of force like this, are just going to give off the wrong impression."

Ironwood starts, "But if what Qrow says is true..."

Ozpin raises his hand to stop him, "If what Qrow says is true, then we will handle it tactfully. It's the Vital Festival, a time to celebrate peace and unity. So I suggest you not scare people by sending hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"I'm just trying to be cautious."

"As am I. Which is why we will train the best huntsman and huntresses we can."

"Believe me, as am I." Ironwood thinks for a moment. "However there is another matter I wish to discuss."

Ozpin raises an eyebrow, "And that would be?"

"Several days ago, we lost contact with a resupply outpost between Vale and Vaccuo."

Ozpin chimes in, "I think I know the one your talking about. The one near St. Vith I believe; I heard that communications within the mountains can be a real pain there on some days."

"Yes, while I do agree that communications with that area have not always been the most reliable, I would expect at least something to come from there. However I have heard nothing from them in the past several days."

"I do know what you mean, contact with some of the nearby towns has also gone dark. I am arranging for a huntsman team from Beacon to be sent there to investigate." Ozpin says.

A look of concern goes across Ironwood's face. "You're not going to send students out there are you?"

Ozpin raises his hand once again, "Don't worry General, the team will be trained and well equipped for this. In addition I will have a trained huntsman to go along with them to make sure they're safe."

Ironwood eases a little, "What kind of mission would this be?'

"It will be a simple scouting mission. Identify the problem, whether it be technical malfunction and/or Grimm, and provide the necessary support to fix said problem. Nothing special." Ozpin says.

Ironwood lets out a sigh, "I do hope that this is just a simple problem, and not the start of something bigger." Ironwood turns to exit the room; just before leaving, he turns back to ask one last question. "Ask yourself this. Do you honestly believe that your children can win a war?" Instead of waiting for an answer, he leaves.

As the door closes, Ozpin replies, "I hope they don't have to."

* * *

Day 3 1230 hours Mission time, Sector S10 Forward Operating Base

It had been a couple of hours since they arrived from the other side, and things are already interesting. Not only was there no communication with the missing team or back to command, but now it appears that this world is populated by some kind of creature that is akin to monsters. These beasts seem to be strong, agile, covered in bony armor, and extremely hostile; thankfully these creatures can still be killed, but with some difficulty.

M4 stood in a large tent that was set up as a command center. Several empty crates were set up in the middle, with a cloth draped over, turning it into a makeshift table. Around the table stood the leaders from many of the echelon teams, as well as M16, all of whom were discussing their situation and what their next move should be.

"So, that's the report." Kar98k said, handing M4 a couple sheets of paper, "We have 15 destroyed dummy units and 7 T-Dolls in need of repair."

M4 looks at her, "When will they be combat ready?" she asks.

"4 of the dolls' injuries are more superficial, so they can be out and about in a few hours. The other 3 on the other hand, the best I can say is several days; that's if we can send them back to the lab for those repairs."

A doll next to Kar wearing a blue jacket over a white dress speaks up. "If I may, I would like to inform you that even though the dolls' injuries are more superficial than the others, they are still too severe to send them into combat."

M4 looks at her, "Do you have any ideas Springfield?"

She nods, "I would like to recommend that the injured dolls be relegated to base duty for the time being. There is still much that can be done: sleeping quarters need to be set up, so does a kitchen and mess area, I could use some help making meals as well."

Another doll chimes in, "We could also do with finishing the base's defenses. I mean, some watch towers would be helpful to spot any incoming hostiles."

Kar looks at the doll, "Yes, because building a watchtower would help us see clearly into the thick forest for miles around." she says with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well then we'll just cut them down." a doll wearing a fedora said. "Plus we can use the wood for buildings, fire, and even the watchtowers themselves. Come on, I know a few dolls who would be happy to help with that."

Another speaks up,"What about building the Gateway Machine so we can establish contact with command?"

"Well the issue is not whether or not we can build it," M16 says, "it's a matter of how are we going to power it? We all saw the amount of energy that Sangvis was siphoning into this thing; where are we going to get that kind of power out in the middle of nowhere?" Several other dolls began to speak up and start to come up with ideas and suggestions on what should be done next.

M4 puts her hand up. "Alright, settle down everyone. We'll tackle these issues one at a time." She turns to Springfield, "First off you make a good point, those dolls are in no position to be sent out into combat. Thus they will be relegated to camp duties until full repairs can be made."

Springfield bows her head, "Thank you."

M4 continues, "As for the request to cut down areas of forest, I will allow it but to a limited extent. We know that there are human settlements here and as far as we know, we are currently intruding on their land. I don't want to disturb the area too much without contacting the presumed owners."

"So, no Thompson lumber company?" Thompson asks.

M4 shakes her head, "Not for now, no." A look of slight disappointment goes across Thompson's face. "Which leads me to my final point, power. Even if we can get the machine built, we would still need to run power to it; not to mention fuel for the generators to keep basic systems in the camp running. So I think we should go out and procure some from the locals."

Kar looks at her, "You mean, take?" she asks.

M4 shakes her head, "No, of course not. What I mean is to ask the locals if they could spare some power. One of our tasks is to establish good relations with the locals, so why not start with a friendly trade agreement."

"Makes sense, but what are we going to trade with?" she asks. Before M4 could answer, the group heard a doll shouting outside.

"Miss M4! Miss M4!" They all could hear shouting coming closer to the tent. A doll, which they identify as M9, comes rushing through the tent flaps with something in hand. "Miss M4, we found something!"

The T-dolls in the tent start to pick up their weapons in anticipation for another attack. M4 goes over to the doll and tries to calm her down. "Calm down M9; tell me what happened? What did you find?"

M9 took a few breaths before starting, "I was doing a patrol with 1911 and MP40 at the edge of the forest when we noticed this." she presented a long stick with what looked to be a piece of cloth tied to one end. "And we also found this." She presents to M4 a small audio recorder. "Did I do good?" she asks.

Thompson was the one who answered, "Yes, you did great M9."

M4 takes the items from M9, "Thank you, I'll look this over right now. You may return to your patrol." M9 gives her a salute before rushing back out of the tent. The others begin to set their weapons back down and continue their discussion.

"So, what is it?" Fal asks.

M4 studies the objects in her hands for a moment before turning to Fn Fal and proceeds to put the items on the table, "A lead on where to find our missing echelon."

After saying this, the others looked at the items. Their faces showed a wide range of emotions from happiness to bewilderment; they all wanted to know what may have happened to their lost companions. M4 hooks up the recorder to play it, and the room fills with the voice of a friend currently lost.

"This is Grizzly Mark V making a report on our current status; the current mission time is 20:51 hours. We have made contact with the person of interest and we have confirmed it to be STAR-15." M4 and M16 perk up when they hear this. "It is to be believed that Sangvis forces are moving north; they are currently engaged from what we can hear but we can't make radio contact of any kind with friendly forces nor are we in the condition to fight. We have reason to believe that there is a human settlement somewhere to the northeast, so we have elected to head that direction for repairs and supplies. We are leaving this behind for any Griffin forces that come through after us. I hope to see some friendly faces soon. Grizzly out." The message ends.

Fal turns to M4 to break the silence that has engulfed the tent, "It looks like they are alive." The others looked toward M4. Their eyes filled with the look of anticipation and eagerness.

"Do we know when this recording was made?" Welrod asks.

"The time stamp on the recording says that it was made almost 2 days ago." M16 answers.

She takes a deep breath and sighs; she thought over carefully what to say next to the crowd waiting for an answer. "Alright, I know what I said before we arrived, however before we do anything rash, I want to go over with everyone on what needs to be done."

"What needs to be done?" Thompson asked in a somewhat shocked manner. "We know they came through alive, we know where they are going, why not follow them?"

"Because we are not in a position to send a full scale search party after them right now." M4 says.

Springfield speaks up, "The message also talked about Sangvis units attacking something to the north; if they are still in the area, that may hinder our search efforts."

"There's also the creatures we encountered upon entering this world, there is a strong possibility that there may be more lurking in the surrounding area." Kar said.

"But we can still go after them." Thompson said, "My team can handle a few Sangvis troops and these 'monsters' go down pretty easily, why not go after them?"

"Because you're missing the point." M4 said while slamming her fist on the table. The others, shocked by her sudden outburst, quieted down and looked at her. "We don't know what is waiting for us within and beyond those woods; we have chased Sangvis Ferri to a new world, got attacked by monsters that could be running rampant across not only the area, but the entire world for as far as we know. We are operating on limited supplies for the moment, and currently have no way to contact Echelon 5 or command." M4 paused to take a breath, "I know you want to help them, I do as well, but from what we can tell they have a 2 day head start on us. We have a general direction on where they're going, which is better than nothing, but we still have no idea exactly where they are."

"Not necessarily." Welrod said, "They said that they'll only travel to the nearest settlement. If we had a map of the area, we could pinpoint which town they would most likely go to."

"Granted they didn't deviate from the path they told us." Kar said.

M4 thought this over for a minute, thinking about what their plan of attack should be. She sighed, "Welrod, how well are your team's tracking skills?"

"Fair enough." she said, "It wouldn't be the first time that we've been behind enemy lines conducting recon and/or tracking a target. Why do you ask?"

"I want you to track Echelon 5's movements for as far as you can to get a sense of their speed and general direction. However due to the aspirant dangers in the area and the possibility of Sangvis forces still in the combat zone, I want your team to be back at camp by nightfall. I also want you to take extra rations along with you just in case."

Welrod saluted her, "Understood."

"As for everyone else, I want you all to continue to conduct patrols and build up our defenses here while I'm gone."

Kar looked at M4 with a confused look, "What do you mean by gone?"

"I will be taking my team to investigate the Sangvis attack that Echelon 5 reported." M4 said. "There is a high likelihood that there may be a town or settlement nearby that we can gain information about the surrounding area as well as the world in general. We won't be gone long, and at worst we plan to be back before sundown."

Kar looked at her, "Is there anything else we need to know?"

M4 thought for a moment, "While I and many of you wish to treat this place like our world back home, as far as we know this world may run on a new set of rules that we may have to comply to. I want you to keep that in mind as we begin to branch out and explore. On that note, you are all dismissed." The other dolls proceed out of the tent without saying another word. M4 then felt a hand on her shoulder and when she turned, she saw M16.

"How are you holding up?" she asks.

"I'm fine." M4 responds. "I just want to do what needs to be done right now."

"It must've pained you to say that we're not going after AR-15 right this very second."

M4 looked down at the recording device, "As much as I wanted to run off after her, Grizzly made a point that Sangvis troops were operating in the area and were attacking a target to the north close enough that Echelon 5 could hear it. If I sent a significant force after her, who knows what could have happened to them."

"Not to mention the fact that if Sangvis troops or even those beasts come poking around here again while the group is gone, there may have been a good possibility that we would have lost our only link back home. Am I right?" M16 asks

"Still…" M4 started, "I wonder if I made the right call?"

M16 shook her head, "No leader in history has ever gone through their career without asking that question at least once."

M4 sighed, "All I want right now is answers. Why did she leave us? How is she still alive? Why was she here?"

M16 turned M4 to face her. "And we will get those answers, we just need to wait."

M4 nodded slightly, "I know."

M16 let go of M4 and started to walk out of the tent. "By the way, you should get ready." M4 looked at her, "We have a mission to conduct, remember?"

M4 nodded her head, "Yes, of course. I just need a minute."

M16 smiled, "Well don't take too long. I don't want to be caught in those woods after dark." After saying this, she left.

* * *

Meanwhile a team of T-Dolls makes their way closer to their destination, wherever that may be. They have been walking for at least two days now searching for any kind of civilization. Fortunately they found a dirt road that was heading in the general direction they wanted to go.

Ribeyrolles looks at the doll next to her. "Srs, I'm tired. How much farther?"

Srs looked down, but before she could say something Grizzly came up behind them and patted Ribeyrolles' head and smiled, "Don't worry, I'm sure it's not much longer." Grizzly then takes Ribeyrolles a little further back in the group.

M2HB walks up to Srs with her machine gun swung over her shoulder and begins to talk, "She has a point; if we don't find a place to rest soon, the only thing that all the other echelons will find is our empty shells."

Srs continues to look forward, "I know."

"Listen, I know that we have very little intel about this place, but I don't think we should be following her advice." M2 makes a small gesture towards AR-15 leading the group about 10 meters ahead of the rest of them.

"And what do you suggest we do?" Srs asks.

"All I'm saying is that maybe we shouldn't put all of our faith into her; she was confirmed to be infected with the Parapluie virus. As far as we know, she could be leading us into an ambush or something."

"We are currently in another world with little in the way of supplies and no support of any kind with Sangvis troops possibly in the area. So, I'm going to ask you again," Srs said, turning to her and speaking in a stern tone. "Do you have any better ideas?"

M2 puts her head done, "Not at the moment, no."

Srs sighed, "I don't like this situation any more than you; but we have very few, if any, options. Our main priority at the moment is to find a friendly area to rest and resupply. Besides, our mission from the commander is to bring AR-15 back to command intact; so for the moment, wherever she goes, we have to follow."

"But how do you know that she isn't taking us to a friendly town? What if she's just leading us straight into a Sangvis trap? What if…" before she could finish that thought, AR-15 spoke.

"You know, I can hear you chattering back there." she said.

After a moment, Srs turns to M2, "I think it may be best for the group to keep your mouth shut for a little bit."

M2 lowers her head and makes her way further back in the group. After AR-15's comment, the rest of the dolls became quiet, unsure on what to say. They walked for about 10 minutes before Grizzly spoke up.

"I spy with my little eye something green." she said.

Spas and Ribeyrolles stared at Grizzly for a minute before Srs broke the awkward silence.

"Is it tree leaves?" she asks.

"Yes." Grizzly responds."I spy with my little eye something blue."

"The sky?" Ribeyrolles asks.

"That's right." she said "I spy…" as she started, AR-15 stopped and raised her hand in the air to signal the others to stop.

When she did this the other dolls stopped and motioned for their weapons. Srs moves up to her to see what is going on.

"Something up?" she asks, AR-15 shushes her. In the silence, all Srs could hear was the wind and the rustling of leaves. That was until she heard what sounded like banging metal.

Srs motioned the team to the sides of the road. They all got on either side and hid in the nearby trees. They all waited for a little while before Srs signaled them to start moving up. The team moved along the roadside for almost a minute, the sounds becoming louder as they got closer. After a bend in the road, AR-15 and Srs could see what was making the noise.

The two of them stared at several small to midsize trucks loaded with wooden crates on the road, one of which appears to be leaning to one side. They saw about a dozen humans walking around the vehicles, some were holding rifles and swords keeping watch while others were working on the leaning truck, one of them swearing when they heard a metallic clank.

The dolls looked at each other before getting up and approaching the group.

"Do you guys need any help there?" Grizzly asked.

The group sprung up surprised at the sudden passersby. The men were unsure of what to do, until one of them spoke up.

"Sure, we could use another hand." he said.

* * *

Day 3 1350 hours Mission time, about 2.5 Km north of S10 F.O.B.

AR team makes their way through the forest, looking for the area of combat Echelon 5 reported in their log. They were unsure of what they would be expecting: Sangvis patrols, more monsters, hostile neighbors. But whatever came their way they had to be ready; there were clear signs that a large number of units passed through the area recently. Fortunately there hasn't been any sign of Sangvis troops, nor those creatures that they encountered when they first arrived so far, but for how much longer that will last is unknown. M4 led the way, behind her followed RO, behind her was Sop-2, and M16 was covering the rear.

"It seems quiet." RO said. "We haven't seen anything hostiles since we left camp."

"Maybe they all killed each other." Sop-2 said.

M16 chuckled, "If only that would be true; would make our job a lot easier."

M4 turns back and shushes them, "Quiet down. There's a clearing up ahead."

Everyone readied their weapons and began to move slowly. Moving from tree to tree, they made their way ever closer to the opening. On the ground, lay ever increasing amounts of footprints, spent ammunition, and bullet holes in the trees. Once they reached the tree line, what they saw left them speechless. Sitting about 50 or so meters from them, lay the smoking ruins of what was once the entrance to a town. There was evidence that a low wall stretched around the town, but much of it in their direction had been destroyed. Beyond it there were mortar craters, destroyed Sangvis units and the smoking rubble of several buildings.

After some time taking in the sight, the members of AR Team make their way into the town. As they passed by the wall, they could see the bodies of what were once the town's occupants; their bodies left to decay in the light of the sun. The burnt, fallen debris of a watchtower lay on the ground, its pieces broken and scattered about.

"I've heard that Sangvis Ferri can be brutal," RO said, "but I never expected this from them."

"It's nothing new," M16 said, "during the butterfly incident, Sangvis units slaughtered any and all humans within their facilities and surrounding area. It was that very reason that Griffin was called in to combat them in the first place."

"Well," M4 began, "if they're treating this place like the sectors back home, we should be expecting them to have a few patrols lingering around. Stay sharp, watch the corners, and be on the lookout for any survivors."

The group gave a silent nod before continuing deeper into the town. They pass by the smoldering rubble that looked to be human dwellings. The only silver lining that they could find in all of this mess, is the amount of Sangvis units laying on the ground as nothing more than piles of scrap.

"Well at least it looks like the townspeople put up a good fight." M16 said.

M4 sighed, "While that may be true, in the end their fate was still the same." She lowered her head in shame. M4 realizing that even though they came to pursue their enemy, they still were too late to stop the attack and help these people. M4 continued to walk forward before she heard the sound of clashing metal.

"Stupid Sangvis Ferri." Sop-2 said kicking the head of one of the units on the ground. "Picking on those who can't defend themselves. Killing those who were just in their way." She rips off the head and lifts it up."Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" Sop-2 shouted as she punted the head into a nearby alleyway.

"SopMod 2, was that really necessary?" RO asked.

"No," she responded, "it was just something I wanted to do."

As they started to walk away M16 looked into the alleyway where Sop-2 kicked her severed head down, only to see something out of place. She thought she could see the silhouette of a person within the shadows, it almost seems like it was staring at her. She stared back at the shadow for a few seconds before it quickly ducked away.

M16 raised her weapon, "M4, I got movement in the alleyway." she said.

The other members of the team quickly raised their weapons and moved to M16.

Still looking down the alleyway, M4 asked M16, "What did you see?"

"Silhouette," she responded, "stared at me for a moment before ducking behind cover."

"Was it human?" She asks.

"Hard to tell from here." M16 said, trying to see where the shadow could have gone to.

M4 nods. "Alright, I'm moving in. M16 you're with me; RO and Sop-2, cover the entrance." The others gave a nod and got into position.

M4 and M16 made their way slowly into the alley, making sure to watch around every possible hiding spot. The first couple of piles of trash and rubble they found nothing of interest, but as they got closer to a set of trash cans, they heard something hit the ground. The two of them got their weapons ready and crept up to the source of the noise, stopping only a meter from the spot. M4 put up her hand and did a silent countdown from 3, then motioned for the two of them to turn the corner. When they did, they found something they didn't expect.

Huddled behind some trash bags was a small girl, looked to be no older than 5. Her hair was covered by a beanie hat with what came out below it was disheveled, her clothes were worn and had a couple of holes in them, and her face was covered in dirt and ash. The dolls looked at each other and then back at the girl, before M4 knelled down to say something.

"Hey there," she said softly, "how are you doing?" The girl began to huddle even tighter into her hiding spot, clearly terrified of the people in front of her.

M16 began to approach, "What's your name?" she asked. As she got closer, the little girl began to try and bury herself completely in the pile she was laying in. M4 motioned for M16 to back off, which she complied.

M4 tried to think of a way to coax the little girl out of her hiding spot, when she remembered one thing. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the chocolate bar that FNC had given her.

"Here, you want this?" she asked, presenting the bar to her. The girl slowly began to make her way out and reached for the bar. After getting a grip on it, she quickly snatched it away and ripped off one end of the wrapping to begin eating it. The two of them watched as the girl held the bar close to her, like this was the first thing she had to eat in a while.

As she ate, the girl looked at the two and said between bites, "Thank you."

M16 smiled, "It's no problem, do you know where your family is?" she asks. The girl shook her head. "Okay, do you know where you live?" She nods.

M4 chimes in, "Do you mind taking us there?" she asks, outstretching a hand.

The girl looks up at M4, "Are you a huntress?" she asks

M4 and M16 looked at each other, "Uh, yes." M16 said, "We are huntresses, we heard there was some fighting out here and we came to investigate."

M4 looks at M16 with mild annoyance at the apparent lie that she just told this kid; but she said nothing about it as what M16 said seemed to calm down the child a little. "Will you take us to your home?" she asked, her arm still outstretched to her.

The girl nods and begins to take her hand. The three of them exit the alleyway and meet up with the others. RO and Sop-2 looked at the young child, wondering how someone her size and age could've survived such an attack. Sop-2 outstretched her arm.

"Hi there, I'm SopMod 2 and her name is RO635 but we just call her RO, what's your name?"

The girl ducked behind M4 after seeing Sop-2's prosthetic arm. M16 patted her on the head, "I know she looks scary, but unless you're one of those mean robots here, she's as harmless as a puppy dog." The girl looked up at the two, "Go on and introduce yourself."

The young girl waved her hand, "Hello, my name Cassiterite; but my friends called me Cassy."

M4 smiled, "Well hello Cassy. My name is M4A1 and she's M16A4. Do you mind telling us what happened here?"

Cassy put her head down. "Bad people were attacking us, there were a lot of loud noises and yelling. Lots of people were hurt." she became visibly upset after saying this.

"Do you know where your family is?" M4 asked.

Cassy shook her head, "I don't know. Daddy went to go get help and Mommy put me in a cellar and told me to stay quiet. And then, and then..." Cassy began to cry.

M16 knelt down to comfort her, "There, there; everything is going to be alright." Cassy began to calm down as M16 rubbed the top of her head. As she did, the hat that she was wearing fell off, leaving the others in a state of shock. None of them could believe what they were seeing and looked at her silently for a moment before RO broke the silence.

"Are those, cat ears?"

* * *

Day 3, 2:30 pm Local time, Beacon Academy, The City of Vale

Professor Ozpin walked through the hallways of the school, coffee in one hand and his cane in another. He loved to take the occasional stroll through the school; take in the atmosphere, watch the students go from class to class, and engage with the faculty every now and again. However today was a little different, today he would have to send one of these young teams out into the world to investigate a report of a town gone dark. But he knew just the team for the job.

"Ah miss Adel, just who I wanted to see." Ozpin said with a smile. An aspiring huntress wearing a beret and dark sunglasses turned her gaze towards the professor and began to make her way to him with one of her teammates with a set of bunny ears. "Oh and miss Scarlatina, good to see you as well."

"Good afternoon professor Ozpin." Velvet said with a slight bow. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing quite well, thank you for asking. How are you both doing in your classes?" Ozpin asked.

Coco gave him the thumbs up, "Great, just aced my history test."

"Well that's good to hear." Ozpin said, "However there is a matter that I wish to discuss with you.:

Velvet nodded, "Sure, what is it?"

"There is a township to the southwest of Vale called St. Vith. It's a quiet little town from what I hear but recently we have lost contact with them. Knowing your team's past experiences, I thought you would be a perfect fit for the job."

Velvet got a surprised look in her eyes, "Are the townspeople in danger?"

Ozpin sighs, "We don't know; like I said we have lost contact with them. Though the area has been known to interrupt signals from time to time. Still we wish to make sure that everyone is okay."

"What do you need us to do?" Coco asks.

"Nothing special, all I want you to do is to head down there and assess the situation. The problem could be as simple as a broken relay tower and nothing more." He pauses for a moment, "But just to be sure, I'll be sending Professor Port to accompany you on your mission." He looked at the faces of the students to find them in large fake smiles and behind it an expression of both slight fear and mild sadness.

"Professor Port sir?" Velvet asked.

Ozpin nodded, "Of course. I understand that he can be a bit much with his storytelling, but he is a trusted, well trained huntsman and would be a valuable help to your team on this mission."

"Is there anything else we should know about?" Coco asked.

"To the north just across the mountains is an Atlesian supply base. If by some means the town was attacked and had been overrun by Grimm, then it is very likely that they made their way there. However we also have no contact with them either to confirm that this was the case." Ozpin stood up straight, "All that being said, a bullhead will be waiting for you on the landing pad to take you to the town."

Coco gave a large smile and a thumbs up, "Don't worry professor, you can count on Team CFVY to get the job done."

Ozpin gave a soft smile, "I wish your team the best of luck on this endeavor." After saying this, he bid the students farewell and walked off to continue his stroll through the halls.

* * *

**A.N.**

**Another one finished. The most difficult part about this chapter that I found out was: how to make a realistic/believable character that wasn't going to die later in the chapter and how does said character first meet the main group. I had to rewrite that scene at least three times because I wasn't happy with the section. **

**I know your going to ask me: "If you had such a hard time with the character, then why does she exist?" **

**To which I will respond: "You'll see why later."**

**Also about Cassy's cat ears, I know that Persica has cat ears as well, but lore wise I wasn't able to find any explanation as to how and why she has cat ears. Seeing as she is the only character who is not a T-Doll that has such a trait, it's safe to assume that it's not very common to have among humans on Earth if at all. If the reactions that AR-Team gave when seeing them triggers you, I'm sorry.**

**Now, on to the responses.**

**zeonstar360: Thank you. The fact you got the reference made me happy.**

**ItzABlueWulf: Thank you for the compliments. As for your question, the lore behind HOC's are (To my knowledge) complete in a sense that all of the parts were there, it was when they captured Architect that they were able to produce a proper targeting system for them. So my understanding is that there is nothing stopping them from using heavy equipment, it's just their efficiency and accuracy would be around the same levels of a normal human solder picking up the equipment for the first time. If I got something wrong please let me know.**

**Kayman141: I was waiting for someone to ask this. The best answer I can give is: in the near future. I want the teams to meet up as well, but I also want them to meet up in circumstances that make sense. I could have had Ozpin send Team RWBY to St. Vith this chapter, but this isn't something he would do. Now you are going to bring up the Mt. Glenn mission, to which I say that the reason he did it was because he believed that Team RWBY would be making their way there whether he had a say in it or not; so why not bend the rules and let them go under the supervision of a trained huntsman, and even then Mt. Glenn was just a stones through from Beacon anyway, not the 2k Km that the town is at. Besides, the events that would lead to that anyway won't happen until later. So my best answer is: "Give it a little time. They will meet, just not right now."**

**Thank you all for the support. I'll see you guys in the next chapter.**


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